Best Friends and True Love
by Edward'sTrueAngel
Summary: What do you do when you fall in love with your best friend and are too afraid to tell them? That's what Edward and Winry wondered every day. So what happens when jealousy, fear, and doubt stand in the way of true love? They're both about to find out.
1. New Neighbors and Best Friends

New Neighbors and Best Friends

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Disclaimer: I don't own FMA or any of the characters because if I did, Ed and Winry would be together forever. This disclaimer applies to this chapter and all nine of the others...So...here's the story. I hope you like it and review if you can!

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The house was silent except for the sounds of his mother making breakfast in the kitchen. He was still asleep as I quietly opened the door and entered his room.

Smiling slightly, I sat down on his bed and looked at his sleeping face, pushing his blonde bangs aside. He looked so young when he was asleep, as young as he was the first day we met.

Edward always slept without a shirt, for as long as I could remember he always had. Yet there was something about the way he had "changed" over the years.

We were eighteen now, all grown up, right? Um…At least he was eighteen. I was still seventeen…Well the sight of his bare, grown up chest was enough to make me blush for looking yet be unable to look away.

To put it straight, he was hot. I had to admit that he totally was. His picture must've been in the dictionary next to the definition of "hot".

I had known Ed since the day his family had moved in next door. We were both thirteen at the time. Even way back then, he was pretty cute. But since then, obviously, cute had shifted to hot.

His legs were long. He was about three inches taller than me. When had he gotten so tall? The day we'd first met, he was slightly shorter than me.

On that warm day in June, I had woken up to the sound of a truck and the ruckus of furniture being moved into the house next door.

Going to my window, I opened the curtains and let the bright light pour into my room. I had to shield my eyes from it momentarily until my eyes finally adjusted.

But when I uncovered my eyes, the sight of a cute boy standing on a branch of the tree in front of my window shocked the crap out of me!

When he turned his head and looked at me, I closed the curtains and placed my hand over my chest in an attempt to keep my heart from jumping out of it.

He'd scared me, sure, but I'd also immediately thought he was cute.

So what was a cute boy doing in the tree in front of my room? I had to find this out. I had every intention of opening the window and asking him this as I pulled back the curtains, but he was gone.

'Maybe it's for the best. After all, I don't think I should question this guy while I'm wearing the clothes I wear to bed…'

I got dressed as quickly as I could and pulled my hair back into a ponytail before I went to brush my teeth.

As I spit out the toothpaste and grabbed the mouthwash, I heard my mother calling my name.

"Winry!" she said as she came up the stairs. "Oh, there you are. We have some new neighbors and I think we should go over there and welcome them to the neighborhood."

"That explains the truck and the furniture," I said after I spit out the mouthwash, too.

'It also explains the boy who has in the tree,' I secretly added in my thoughts.

As I went downstairs, I heard my mom in the kitfchen. She had her head stuck into the refrigerator and she was getting ready to pull something out.

I watched her as she grabbed the chocolate cake she'd baked last night and had insisted be saved for desert after dinner tonight.

At least, that was back when we were actually a family, back when my parents were home and my mom cooked dinner every night. Yeah, that didn't last that long.

"Mom, what are you doing with the cake?" I asked, grabbing a knife just in case I'd be able to get her to leave the room so I could cut it.

She put the cake onto one of her best plates and took the knife out of my hand before she put the knife back in the drawer I'd gotten it from.

"These people just moved in and I want to make them feel at home so I'm giving them the cake," she explained as she left the room.

"What?!" I said as I followed her.

"You heard me. I can always bake us another cake, anyway."

I glared at the back of her head as she opened the door. Dang it, I'd wanted that cake! But at least she'd said she would make another one…

The house to the right of ours was the one being moved into. I wondered what kind of people they were and what this mysterious boy was like.

My mother didn't hesitate as she walked onto the porch and rang the doorbell. The door was open since the movers were still bringing things inside.

"Come up here," she told me as she saw me standing on the bottom step.

Sighing, I hurried to her side and waited to meet the newcomers.

"Oh, hello," a beautiful woman with long brown hair said as she came to the door.

She smiled at the both of us. She looked friendly, likeable, and welcoming.

"I'm sorry to intrude like this, but I'm Sara Rockbell and this is my daughter Winry. We live next door and we just wanted to welcome you to the neighborhood. We even brought you a cake," she said, holding out the cake for the lady to take.

The woman gladly took it and smiled again.

"Thank you so much. I'm Trisha Elric. Would you like to come in?" she asked.

I automatically thought no, but of course my mom said, "Yes, we'd love to."

Mrs. Elric led us to the living room to wait for her while she sat the cake down in the kitchen. At least they'd gotten the furniture moved into the living room so we didn't have to sit on the floor or stand.

"So, Winry," she addressed me. "Would you like a piece of the cake?"

I was obviously going to accept her generous offer, but of course my mom had to rain on my parade. She sent me a look that clearly told me to decline.

"No, I'm fine for now. We brought the cake for you to eat, not us," I said with a smile on my face.

'Cake snatchers,' I thought as I looked at my mom.

My mother, who seemed pleased with my response, directed her attention to Mrs. Elric again.

"So, Mrs. Elric, you're married, right? Do you have children?"

"Please call me Trisha. I am married. My husband started his new job today so he left the house up to me. And yes, I do have children."

At that moment, the boy I'd seen before entered the room.

"Hey mom, I need…" he started, but trailed off as he saw us sitting there.

"Edward, these are our neighbors. This is Sara Rockbell and her daughter Winry."

"Nice to meet you Edward," my mother said as she smiled warmly at him.

"Likewise," he said to her as he stared at me.

Yep, he was definitely the boy who had been standing in the tree. No doubt about that.

He was so cute, in my opinion. From the long blonde hair to the scowl on his face even to his slightly unusual height, he was cute.

I realized I'd been staring so I looked away.

"Sara, would you like a little tour of the house?" Mrs. Elric asked my mom, who nodded.

"That would be nice," she commented.

Mrs. Elric turned to her son. "Edward, please stay here and keep Winry company. You might just make your first friend here today."

With that said, she led my mother away and left me all alone with this stranger.

I sat on the couch with my hands folded in my lap. I glanced over at the boy named Edward who was sitting in a chair nearby.

He turned his head and looked at me and I looked away.

When I felt his gaze on me, I looked at him again, but this time he was the one to look away. I sighed.

It was as silent as a grave in the room so I finally got tired of it and decided to break the ice.

"So, Edward, you just moved to Resembool, right?"

"Call me Ed," he said. "We just moved here today."

This time when I looked at him, he looked at me and didn't look away. I felt as if I'd finally made some progress.

He looked at me with those beautiful golden eyes of his and my heart began to beat faster. I'd never seen eyes like his before, golden like the sun.

"So, Ed, why were you in the tree in front of my room earlier?" I asked, finally asking him the question I'd been waiting to.

He blinked a couple of times as if he was confused and then a look of understanding reached his face.

"Oh, so you were the girl looking through the window. Nice pajamas by the way."

I blushed, partly from embarrassment and partly from anger that he was mocking my pajamas.

"Brother, that's not nice," I heard another boy's voice say as he entered the room.

He was taller than Ed, but as it turned out he was actually younger.

"I'm Winry Rockbell," I said as I stood up and offered him my hand. "I live right next door."

He shook my hand and smiled at me, the same smile his mother had worn.

"I'm Alphonse Elric. The rude one in the chair is my older brother Edward."

"He's older?" I asked in disbelief. "But he's shorter than you…"

I obviously shouldn't have said that since Ed jumped out of his chair and raised his fist angrily.

"Who are you calling a tiny little pipsqueak who can't reach the doorknob without standing on books?!" he said as Alphonse rushed to his side to restrain him.

Normally people would have been a little scared at this, but I merely laughed for some reason.

That made him more angry, but I knew that he wasn't going to do anything to hurt me.

"Nice pipsqueak," I said with a giggle as I patted him on his head.

It was on that day that I'd met Edward Elric. Of course I'd upset him, but he'd gotten over it within five minutes and we became friends from there.

But somewhere along the way, I had realized, I'd ended up falling in love with him. He had always been there for me, right beside me, so how could I not fall for him.

Plus, there was the fact that I thought he was hot. But it wasn't only that. He was kind, smart, loyal, determined, sweet, thoughtful, and more.

When I thought about it, he was the complete package. And how could I not fall in love with that?

But I was his friend, his best friend, right? I couldn't just tell him all of this, right? I always kept my feelings bottled up inside. Except, of course, for the times when he couldn't see me, like right now. When he was asleep, he couldn't see the look I wore on my face as I gazed at him, as I wished I could tell him how I felt.

It was times like this that I truly treasured.

He appeared to be waking up. I sat there and watched him as he opened those brilliant golden eyes slightly before closing them again and rubbing them.

From there he yawned and then stretched. As he stretched, I could see his muscles even better. I schooled my features and waited for him to notice me.

He blinked a couple of times and then looked over at me before jumping back in shock.

I laughed at his surprise.

"Morning Ed," I said as I waved at him.

"And just how long have you been here?" he asked as he hopped out of bed and grabbed a shirt out of his drawer.

Before he put his shirt on, he'd only been wearing a pair of boxers. Luckily his back was turned so he didn't see me shamelessly ogling him.

His pants were the next thing he put on and then he went to his closet to unearth his shoes and socks. From time to time I would surprise Ed by coming to his room before he woke up.

One reason was that I liked to watch him sleep. The other reason is that I loved watching him get dressed. I know I must sound like some crazed fan girl right now or some stalker, but I assure you that I'm neither.

I can't help how my mind works, honestly.

Many times I wished that Edward would just leave his hair down all day, but I watched him as he brushed his hair quickly and braided it as he usually did.

The braid was hot, sure, but I thought having his hair down would make him even more hot.

I stood up as he turned around to look at me.

"Don't they feed you at your own house?" he asked me as I followed him to the kitchen and sat next to him at the table.

I ignored his comment and watched his mother enter the room.

"Good morning," she said to the both of us.

She leaned down and Ed planted a kiss on her cheek before looking over at my amused expression.

"So where's Alphonse?" I asked as I looked at his empty chair.

"Al? Oh, he had said something to me about going to meet a girl today," Edward explained.

Alphonse was cute, caring, and nice. He'd instantly become rather popular at school, so it didn't surprise me that there were so many girls with crushes on him.

"Al seems to have no problems finding girlfriends, but you're another story Ed," I said.

He seemed to be ignoring me.

"So what's wrong? You're smart, cute, and popular. No, wait. I finally get it. You…you're gay, aren't you?!"

I had been teasing, but he'd obviously been disturbed by my comment since he chocked on his orange juice and it had even shot out of his nose.

When he began coughing, I hit him lightly on the back to help him out.

When he'd finally regained his composure, he turned to look at me with a look of disbelief on his handsome face.

"What the….?! I'm not gay, you got that?!"

I smiled. Winry one point today, Edward zero.

I knew that Ed wasn't gay, he knew he wasn't gay, but that didn't mean I couldn't have a little fun with him and say that he might be gay.

And besides, even if he was actually gay, he'd still be hot.

And…I'd still love him.


	2. Ed, Winry, and Vampire Teeth?

Ed, Winry, and Vampire Teeth?

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Gay? How could she even suggest that I might be gay?!

I wondered that for what was maybe the hundredth time within the hour since she'd said that. We weren't doing anything exciting, just hanging out by the big water fountain in the center of town.

It was a nice day. The sun was shining, the sky was clear, and there was a nice breeze. If somebody had said, "Hey Ed, how's the weather over there?" then I'd reply, "Just fine, how about over there where you are?"

I looked over at Winry. She had her soft hand in the water, waving it around. She didn't seem to notice me staring at her, so I just continued.

My gaze gradually moved up her arm and to her slender shoulder. From there, I gazed at the delicate skin of her neck.

From there…well, you don't really need to think to hard to figure that out, right?!

I'd known her since I was thirteen. She was my best friend. She understood me better than anybody else, right?

She'd been there for me for so long.

If I were to try to come up with one single word to describe Winry Rockbell, what would it be? Beautiful, it'd definitely be the word beautiful.

It was unusually warm and the heat obviously getting to her since she'd started to sweat slightly.

I just couldn't tear my gaze away from the dampness of her skin. She wiped her forehead with her dry hand and took the other out of the water.

"It's hot out today. I mean, it's nice weather, just hot, though. Do you want to go somewhere else?"

"Hmm?" I asked, not really paying attention to her words. She'd started to look at me and that was when I snapped out of it and looked away, not really wanting her to catch me staring.

"Ed, are you okay?" she asked.

I laughed nervously.

"Yep, I'm fine, just fine. No need to worry about me!"

She looked at me suspiciously before shrugging and putting her hand on my forehead, the wet hand.

It was cool against my heated skin, soothing. Even her hand was beautiful.

"So do you want to?" she asked.

"Want to what?"

She sighed.

"I knew it. You weren't listening before. I asked you if you wanted to go somewhere else since it's so hot here. Just look at us, we're both sweating."

I nodded faintly. I still didn't really hear what she was saying, but I responded anyway.

She stood up and grabbed my hand, dragging me away from that place. We ended up in an arcade, which thankfully, had air conditioning.

After beating her for the fifteenth time at a fighting game, I grabbed the tickets I'd won.

"No fair Ed. You must be cheating every time. Nobody can beat me that many times like that."

I smiled.

"You're right Win, nobody can except for me."

She pouted and looked away.

"Come on," I said. "I'll take the tickets I won by beating you and get you a prize."

She seemed to agree to that and followed me to the counter. She looked at the prizes under the glass and for some strange reason she selected the plastic vampire teeth.

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"Yep," she replied.

I shrugged before telling the woman behind the counter to get the teeth.

She giggled as I placed them in her hand and gave the woman the tickets.

"Here I," she said as she put the teeth up to my mouth. "I wanted these so that you could wear them."

"What? Oh hell no," I replied as I pushed them away.

She grinned.

"Oh come on Ed. I think that a guy with fangs is hot. You never know…maybe they'll help you get a girlfriend."

I blushed before glaring at her.

She offered me the teeth again.

"Please? For me?" she said.

How could I say no to that face?

Sighing, I grabbed the teeth and stuck them in my mouth. She clapped happily before flashing me that victorious grin of hers.

I didn't want help finding a girlfriend. I could get one easily if I wanted to, but I didn't. The only girl I wanted, I couldn't have, right? And she had no clue about how I felt about her.

The first thing I thought about Winry Rockbell the first time I saw her through that window was that she was pretty.

But pretty had one day turned into beautiful.

I didn't know when it happened, but I'd fallen in love with her, with Winry. She was the only girlfriend I wanted and she didn't know it.

And she might not ever know…

I thought I looked ridiculous with the fake teeth in my mouth and they irritated my real teeth.

"This sucks," I said gloomily as I readjusted the wretched plastic.

She shocked me when she grabbed the teeth out of my mouth and stuck them into her own.

"That can't be sanitary. Now all of my spit is in your mouth," I said quickly.

She shrugged.

"You brush your teeth, you floss, you have no girlfriend so you haven't been kissing anybody, and your mouth hasn't been any other place that it shouldn't be so what do I have to worry about? Besides, if this grosses you out, then what will you do when you get married?"

I rolled my eyes.

"I could get kissed if I wanted to," I said defensively. "And what do you mean my mouth hasn't been any places that it shouldn't?"

This time she rolled her eyes.

"Just use your imagination, buddy," she told me.

I raised my eyebrows and looked away.

Sometimes she said the strangest, most disturbing things to me that I doubted she would say to anybody else.

"So," she began. "How do they look?"

She smiled with the teeth.

I thought she looked just as ridiculous as I had, but even so, she still looked beautiful.

"Weird, you look weird," I told her with a grin.

She hit my arm lightly and walked ahead of me, poking her head out of the door and looking down the street.

As we stepped out onto the street, an old couple that was passing by said "Oh what a cute young couple. They look perfect together."

I had immediately blushed. I didn't get the chance to see if Winry was blushing too since I immediately looked in the opposite direction!

Couple? Did they look like a couple? And not only that, but we looked perfect together? I wished that was true.

We avoided looking at each other as we walked down the street. I'd done my best to avoid the local hardware shop, but to no avail.

Winry was stronger than she looked and even though I was stronger than her and could have easily resisted, I let her drag me inside.

The store's owner, Pinako Rockbell, greeted us as we entered.

"Winry and Ed. Out again today, are you?"

"Hi grandma," Winry said as she stepped up to the counter.

"I see you got rid of the stool. Nice stairs," I teased.

Pinako glared at me. She'd been standing on a stool so that she could see above the counter. But that wasn't convenient enough so she'd had some stairs installed instead.

"Keep it up Ed and I'll have to knock you back down to your old height," she said as she picked up the wrench she had sitting on display in front of the window.

Winry knocked me lightly on the arm and grabbed the wrench out of her hand.

"Speaking of this," Winry said as she examined the item. "I saw this in the window and this is why I came inside! How about giving your one and only granddaughter an early birthday present?"

Pinako had an amused look on her face as she laughed at Winry.

"I don't think so, kid. Buy something or else get out, just like all my other customers."

"Please grandma? Just this once? I absolutely must have this! It's so shiny and pretty, yet strong and reliable at the same time!"

Pinako shook her head.

"Sorry. No can do."

Winry turned toward me, her last resort, with fake tears in her eyes.

"Don't cry to me. I'm not buying it for you," I told her with a stern expression on my face.

"But Eddie!" she cried as she put on her version of the "sad puppy dog face".

'Eddie?' I thought. 'Damn, she's using that puppy dog face again….'

"I'll love you forever," she said as she continued to make that face.

I sighed and hung my head low before nodding.

'If only you would love me forever,' I thought as I pulled out my wallet and handed over the money. 'Especially since she asked me for the most expensive on in the whole store…'

"Yay!" Winry said as Pinako stuck the money in the cash register. "You're the best Ed."

"Yeah, I better be after what you just cost me," I said with a scowl on my face, the same scowl I'd been wearing the day we met.

"Don't scowl. You wouldn't like it if that look got stuck on your face, would you?"

"Ah, what the hell, I'm over it. Lets just go now," I said as I grabbed her hand and left the store.

We reached her house and were standing at the front door of the Rockbell residence.

"It's the last day of my weekend and I just got dragged all around town and cheated out of a chunk of my money," I complained.

Winry rolled her eyes and then turned around to face me.

"But Ed," she said in a soft tone. "Wasn't it worth it to see me happy?"

She smiled at me before she opened the door and disappeared behind it, closing it in my face.

"That smile of hers made it worth it," I whispered to myself before I cut across the lawn and went straight to my house.

Closing the door behind me, I was walking by the living room when I heard my father's voice.

"That you Ed?" Hohenheim asked from his seat on the couch.

I entered the room and stood in the doorway.

"Nope, it's just some random guy off of the street that looks like me," I joked.

Hohenheim had to work a lot of the time, but he always made time for his family it seemed.

I sat down next to him and thanked the heavens for whoever it was that invented the air conditioner.

"It's hot out there today, isn't it?" Hohenheim asked as he changed the channel on the television.

"Yeah. And the fact that Winry pulled me all the way around town all day didn't make it any less hot. Plus, she ended up making me spend half the money in my wallet on her, all for a stupid wrench."

Hohenheim laughed.

"She made you spend the money? Yeah, sure" he said sarcastically. "You just couldn't resist her womanly charms, could you?"

"What?!" I said quickly. "What "womanly charms"?"

Dad gave me a look that accused me of playing dumb.

"Oh come on Ed. Winry's grown up. I've noticed, you've noticed, everybody's noticed. So what did she do? Give you a kiss on the cheek…or…something more?"

I took a cushion off of the couch and threw it at his head and headed toward the door.

"No! She didn't…we didn't…uh, I am not discussing this with you. Get your mind out of the gutter dad."

"You're not a kid anymore Ed. Trisha and I never know what you're up to," he called behind me as I hurried upstairs. "When I was your age, I…"

I didn't get the chance to hear the rest of his sentence since I slammed my door shut behind me, effectively ending the conversation.  
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	3. School

Best Friends and True Love

School

Chapter 3

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Here's another chapter. I hope you like my story!

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I stepped out of the shower and grabbed a towel before opening the door and closing it behind myself.

I didn't really need a towel to enter my room since it was my own private bathroom, but I never knew when Ed might come in through my window and catch my off guard.

It had never happened before, but I didn't want to take that chance.

Making sure my window was locked and the curtains were shut, I finished drying off and then got dressed.

It was Monday morning and I had to go to school today. I was a senior. Soon I'd be graduating and off to college.

And then…I might be separated from Ed…

I didn't want that so I might have to force him to go to the same college as me…

I didn't care if people found me unusual for it, but I wanted to become a mechanic. I loved to work on cars and other objects.

Ed always called me a "loser machine junkie" but I didn't really care. He was a science geek in my opinion since he always got the highest grade in a science class.

We were in the same Chemistry class and he must've had a hundred in there while I probably had a B.

We walked to school every morning, my, Ed, and Al, at least when it wasn't cold outside. On those days, however, we went in Ed's car.

As I closed the front door behind myself, I saw them waiting for me at the bottom of the steps.

"And just where were you yesterday Alphonse?" I asked in a "mother hen" tone.

"Oh, some girl from school asked me to meet her yesterday. She asked me out but I told her no. After that I went home, but Ed wasn't there and you were gone so I just hung out with dad all day."

"Look!" I said as I pulled the wrench out of my backpack. "Ed bought this for me yesterday. Do you like it?"

"Gosh I. You make it sound like I bought you a new outfit and you're showing it off. It's a wrench, dammit, and you shouldn't take it to school."

"Ignore brother," Al said as he put his hand over Edward's mouth. "It's nice, but it looks expensive."

"It was expensive, but I should be worth it, right Alphonse?"

Al laughed nervously before nodding his head.

"Of course you're worth it," he said before offering me his arm. I took it and they walked ahead of Ed.

I looked behind us at Ed and stuck my tongue out at him. He rolled his eyes.

We almost had the same schedule. The majority of our classes were the same so we saw plenty of each other, Ed and I.

As I sat in our first period class, Chemistry, I rubbed my forehead. I was getting a headache from this nonsense.

"I just don't get it," I said as I looked at Ed who had already finished his work. "I just suck at this. How in the world do you change this from grams to moles?!"

He laughed at me and grabbed my pencil. "Look," he said as he pulled the paper closer. "It's simple."

"Easy for you to say," I said as I glared at him. He ignored me.

"Look, this stuff is easy. If you don't understand this, I know you won't understand balancing equations when the teacher moves us on to that."

I rolled my eyes.

"I already know that. I haven't really understood anything in the class all year."

"You mean you didn't understand anything until I helped you, right? And now you have a B so you have nothing to complain about."

I rolled my eyes again.

"Look here," he began.

My mind trailed off. I tried to pay attention to what he was saying, really, I did. However, he looked so good today that I began to think about how hot he was yet again.

He hadn't braided his hair today. Instead, he had it back in a ponytail. Even though yesterday had been really warm, this morning had been strangely cold. He'd worn his favorite red coat, but now he had it laying on the back of his chair.

Since he wasn't wearing the coat, I was thinking about the muscles he was hiding underneath the black short sleeved shirt he was wearing.

I loved it when he wore black. Black was definitely a good color for him.

"And then that leaves you with 131.2 moles of Cl, which is chlorine. Did you get that? You're not listening, are you?"

"Hmm?" I asked faintly.

"Winry," he said as he waved his hand in front of my face.

"Oh, hi Ed," I said as I stopped playing with his ponytail, which I had no idea I'd been doing.

"I knew it. Winry, how do you expect to understand this when you don't pay attention? I'm done helping you."

I laughed at him and began playing with his ponytail again.

"I just got distracted," I explained. "It won't happen next time."

He raised his eyebrows.

"Distracted? Distracted by what?" he asked, curious.

I blushed and looked away. I couldn't let him know that I'd been distracted my thoughts of him, could I?

"Nothing really. You're right, I need to pay more attention."

"Oh come on. You can tell me the truth," he continued.

"Nope. That's not gonna happen," I told him as I avoided his gaze.

He would've continued to question me, but he was interrupted by our classmate, Noah.

"Hey Ed," she said in her normal friendly and somewhat desperate tone. "Could you help me out with number five?"

"Yeah," he told her as he grabbed her paper."

Noah was nice enough, but she made me mad a lot. She had a crush on Ed, a huge crush, and she talked to him every chance she got.

I got tired of it. Whether he knew it or not, he was mine, and she would never have him! I would make her stop, but Ed didn't know I was in love with him and since I knew he wasn't in love with me, it'd only make things worse.

Instead, I grabbed his coat and rolled it up into a ball, burying my face in it and growling slightly under my breath.

Noah was an annoyance. I was jealous, I must admit. I was definitely jealous even though there wasn't really anything to be jealous of. Still, though, I couldn't help it.

I needed a nap and his coat would serve as my pillow. With my nose buried in the fabric, I couldn't help but smell the scent that lingered on it.

'It smells just like Ed,' I thought absently as my eyes drifted closed.

Ed always smelled great. I don't know if it was the soap he used, the cologne he wore, his shampoo, or what, but he always smelled good.

I was happy that I didn't snore because I was knocked out within a few short seconds.

Ed soon woke me up by yanking on my hair and told me I'd better pay attention as he began to explain the work to me again.

I told him "good luck" before he started, but I paid attention anyway.

I was a good student, honest. I was on the honor roll, in fact. It's just that sometimes Ed could be distracting without really trying.

By the time he shut his mouth, I did have a better understanding of it and I was able to finally finish my work by myself since he didn't let me copy down his answers, that goodie two shoes…

And Noah was able to do her own work, thankfully.

When the bell rang, I was the one wearing the coat out of the classroom. It was too big for me, but I didn't care. I wore his coat many times.

Whenever we got into water fights at his house I sometimes had to wear his clothes, anyway, so the coat wasn't a big deal…

I grabbed onto his arm and hurried to my locker. His was right next to mine so I wasn't inconveniencing him.

I got my book and closed my locker, putting the lock back on. Ed, however, had forgotten his combination again.

"Um…Winry," he said, pointing at his lock. "A little help here?"

"Move aside," I said as I grabbed the lock and unlocked it easily. "Really now, what would you do without me? You'll never remember your combination."

"I'd be lost without you," he said sarcastically. "By the way, what is my combination?"

"Right twenty three, left two, and right eleven," I replied as I grabbed his book and shoved it into his arms. "What do I have to do, tattoo it onto your forehead?"

But I loved the fact that he couldn't remember his combination. I liked opening his locker for him. I felt as if he really needed me, as weird as that might sound.

Whenever I was absent from school he usually had to go to the office and have them tell him his combination or else see if Al remembered it. Sometimes, though, he got lucky and actually remembered it on his own.

As we walked down the hallway we noticed that there was a group of girls standing around Alphonse. Al looked like he wanted to get away, so I decided that I might have to chase them all away with a stick. But in my case, however, the stick would probably be my new shiny wrench.

"Oh no you don't," Ed said as he pushed me back. "You're not going to threaten them."

"I wasn't going to threaten them," I protested. "I was just going to tell them all that I had to speak to Al."

He obviously wasn't convinced by my answer since he went to help Al on his own.

"Hey Alphonse," he said as he made his way through the crowd of girls. "I need to talk to you."

"Well would you look at that?" Al said quickly, happy to see a way to get away. "It's been nice talking to you ladies, but my brother needs me."

I was happy that "operation: save Alphonse" was a success. What I wasn't happy about, however, was the way that the girls eyes had shifted from gazing at Al to gazing at Ed.

They were looking at him like he was a tasty piece of meat or something. Sure, I imagine that I looked at him like that sometimes when he wasn't paying attention, but that was okay for me to do. I didn't like it when they did it.

Some of them I knew and they waved at me. The angry expression on my face shifted to a friendly one as I waved back and said a few nice words to the ones that I knew.

"Winry is so lucky," I heard one of them say as we walked away. "She's friends with Ed and Al. She even lives right next door to them!"

"If I lived next door to them, I'd be able to spy on them when they were coming out of the shower, getting dressed,…"

That last sentence was cut off as we turned the corner.

Sure I could do all of that. But I wasn't some sick stalker…

Al was smart when it came to science, too. The both of them made me sick, yep, but I guess that deathly ill would be more like it.

Fifth period was a free period for me. I didn't have a class to go to so I usually hung out in the gym and watched Ed and Al, who were in gym class.

Unfortunately, there were many other girls who had the same idea. I tried not to let that get to me since I was enjoying watching Ed playing basketball.

It made my day to see him running around in his gym clothes and dominating the court. He was wearing a sleeveless shirt and a pair of shorts, exactly what he usually wore.

Al passed Ed the ball and he raised his strong arms and shot it into the basket, winning the game.

Okay, with all of my talk about how hot Ed is everything else, you must think that I'm some lovesick puppy or something.

You might even be getting sick of me going on and on about his hotness. In that case, I'm very sorry.

Anyway, much to my discontent, Noah also liked to spend this period in the gym. I imagine that the expression on her face probably resembled mine and I had no right to get angry since Ed wasn't my boyfriend, but I couldn't help it.

Ed and Al's team ended up winning the game and they all went to the showers. I waited patiently for them to return, making small talk with Noah even though I didn't like the fact that she liked Ed.

The gym teacher was also the Chemistry teacher. Izumi Curtis was one of the prettiest women I'd ever seen, yet she could also be very brutal.

Though I had to admit that she'd whipped the Elric brothers into pretty good shape.

Noah had been saying something about something and I wasn't really paying attention to her when Ed and Al came out of the locker room and came to the bleachers.

"Hi Ed," Noah said as they reached us. "Good game today."

Okay, I didn't really hate Noah. I'd always liked her except for when she was all over Ed. I don't want to sound psycho or anything or hateful so I'll admit to that. I actually thought she was beautiful and I loved the shade of her skin.

So if that makes me sound less mean, then good.

"Hey Noah," he said. "Did you finish your Chemistry?"

She nodded.

"Yep. I think I did great on it, all thanks to you."

"Here," I said as I grabbed my brush and fixed Al's hair, which had looked a little wild at the moment.

"Oh, thanks," he said as he gave me a smile.

A few seconds later, Russell Tringham came over to me and we started talking.

He was a year younger than me, a junior like Alphonse, but we'd always been friends.

Ed looked at us out of the corner of his eyes and I could've sworn I saw him glare at Russell. As a matter of fact, I'd caught him glaring at him a couple of times when I we were talking.

I shrugged in confusion.

At the time, I had no idea what the look meant even though it should've been obvious. That glare obviously represented jealousy.


	4. I Slept with Winry?

Best Friends and True Love

I Slept With Winry?!!!

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Thank you for reading and for your reviews, they made me happy. So here's the chapter. I hope you like it.

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I'd never liked Russell Tringham. He'd gone to the same middle school as me and Winry and he'd thought it would be funny to call me short. Nobody calls me short and gets away with it!

I wasn't short, he was just freakishly tall at the time. He towered over most of the guys in the school, I swear he did.

I knew exactly why he enjoyed calling me short. It was because I was always with Winry and he had a crush on her. It was painfully obvious that he did to everybody. The thing was that Winry's so blind that she's never caught on.

That's exactly the problem with us. I love her and she has no clue. I knew that Winry had seen me glaring at Russell a few times she'd been talking to him and I was thankful that she never questioned me about it.

What was I supposed to tell her if she did? 'Oh, I'm glaring because I'm in love with you and I'm jealous that you're standing there talking to another guy?'

There was no way I'm was going to tell her that!

I was only hostile toward Russell whenever Winry was involved and, of course, in gym class. Winry was always in there watching us so I couldn't let him beat me, could I?

So of course I beat him in basketball.

Plus, I had the satisfaction of being tall now so he couldn't call me short.

Nobody could call me shorty, pipsqueak, micro sized, half pint, or shrimp anymore, Winry included.

We were in my room sitting on my bed playing a video game. Her character was beating mine to a bloody pulp so I bumped her arm to distract her and give myself an advantage.

"Hey, no fair. That's cheating!" she said as she bumped me back.

I won the game and she picked up my pillow and hit me, seeking revenge.

"Is that all you've got?" I asked as I picked up a pillow and hit her back.

"Take that!" Winry said as she smacked me upside my head, hard.

My pillow struck her in the stomach while her next blow landed directly on top of my head.

She jumped off of my bed and ran across the room, holding up the pillow as if she were about to slice me with a sword.

I chased after her and she ran away, laughing the entire time.

I caught up with her and wrapped my arm around her waist, but she slipped out of my grasp easily and turned around and hit me again.

I managed to land a blow to the top of her head and then a couple more.

She laughed as she hit me again. Me, being tired of getting hit, used my pillow to knock her pillow out of her hands.

She squealed as I tackled her onto the bed. I began to tickle her. If there was one thing that I knew would make Winry give up, it would definitely be tickle torture.

"Stop Ed, stop!" she laughed as I tickled her sides.

"Not until you say please," I told her calmly as I continued the torture.

She was holding up better than usual. Usually she would've cracked under the pressure.

"Never," she said between laughs.

I couldn't reach her feet and if I went to tickle those, chances were that she would kick the living daylights out of me.

"Come on, just give up," I told her. She was laughing so hard that she could hardly breathe.

Suddenly she stopped laughing, as if she'd just realized something for the first time.

I stopped tickling her and then I finally realized what was wrong.

There she was laying on my bed and there I was laying right on top of her.

One of my legs was pinning one of hers while my right hand was holding me up next to her head. My left hand, however, was resting on her bare stomach since I'd ended up pushing her shirt up slightly while I was tickling her.

My mind told me to get up as fast as I could, to put some distance between us before I did something stupid, like kiss her.

My body, however, had other ideas. Before I could think about it, before I could stop myself, I brought my lips down over hers.

They were soft, warm, and inviting. I'd wanted to kiss her for so long, had needed to, and I finally had my chance.

What shocked me was the fact that she didn't try to stop me, that fact that she'd definitely returned the kiss the moment my lips touched hers.

Her fingers sank into my hair as I unconsciously pushed her shirt up more, touching her bare skin, savoring the feel of it.

I'd never felt this way before as I explored her mouth, felt her skin brush against mine. It was all perfect until…until…until I heard a very annoying beeping sound in the back of my mind.

I tried to ignore it, but it just kept getting louder and louder. I opened my eyes and looked over at my alarm clock.

I smashed the button down and the annoying sound stopped. So it'd all been a dream? It was a damn dream?

What had happened? I faintly remembered getting beaten by Winry at the video game. After that we'd been watching a movie, some stupid chick flick.

That must've been when I fell asleep. That would explain why my TV was on and why I saw nothing on the screen but fuzz.

Apparently she must've fallen asleep, too, since her head was against my chest and my arm was wrapped around her.

Holding her there felt so good, so perfect, but I knew that we both had to wake up and go to school. I also knew that she definitely had to leave and sneak up to her room before her parents found out she'd stayed with me, at my house, in my bed all night.

Sure, we were best friends, but when a guy and a girl are alone in his room in his bed all night, people usually think it was anything but innocent.

Her breathing was so steady, so even. She looked so peaceful that I hated the idea of waking her up. Plus there was the fact that I didn't wake up every morning with her sleeping against me peacefully like that.

But in the end, the fact that there might be big trouble if somebody found us in there like that and if her parents went to her room and found her missing made me sit up.

"Winry," I said reluctantly as I shook her. "Winry, wake up."

She groaned slightly and I continued to shake her.

"Stop mom…I don't want to go to school…" she mumbled as she began to wake up.

"Winry!" I said a little louder this time.

Her eyes shot open and she looked up at me.

"Ed? Oh my gosh, did I fall asleep?"

"Yep," I said as I nodded.

"What time is it?"

I pointed at my alarm clock. She gasped and got up so fast that I could see a trail of dust!

"Oh no! I'm gonna be is so much trouble! What do I do? What do I do? What do I do??!!!!!!!" she panicked.

"Shh!" I said as I put my hand over her mouth. "First of all, you should be quiet! What of my parents come up here and find out? Or worse, what if Al comes in? He'd never let me hear the end of it!"

She nodded. I pulled my hand back and sat down on the edge of my bed. She sat down beside me.

"First of all," I said as I looked at her. "We have to figure out how to get you out of here. Al should be awake already and chances are that he'll come out of his room. My mom should be up making breakfast so she might see you. And my dad….oh no! Not my dad!"

The conversation he'd had with his father before echoed in his head. He shook his head to clear his mind of the embarrassing words.

"I could climb out of your window…And then I could climb up the tree in front of my room and get in through my window…" she said. "Are rooms are right next to each other."

I shook my head. "No, that wouldn't work. What if a neighbor were to look outside and see you climbing out of my window or if somebody drove by in a car?"

She sighed. "Then what do you suggest we do?"

I sat there for a couple of minutes before I came up with the best idea I could think of.

"I got it. It'll be dangerous, but we have to take the risk," I said, making it sound as if it were a life or death mission.

"So what's your bright idea?" she asked impatiently.

"Al may see you and my parents may see you, but if we're careful enough I may be able to sneak you out through the back door. From there, you run to the back of your house and use that tree to get into the utility room window."

"It's brilliant!" she said as she clapped her hands together.

I opened my door as quietly as I could and looked out into the hallway. Al was definitely awake, but luckily, I heard water so he was probably in the shower.

My mom was most likely in the kitchen and my dad might've been in the living room, so the second floor was free of danger.

"Come on," I whispered as I hurried her out of my door and closed it quietly behind her.

We walked silently down the hallway and made it to the staircase. I still didn't see any sign of anybody, but I was still cautious so I went down the stairs first.

"Oh crap!" I whispered as I saw my mom nearby. My dad would probably make some embarrassing remark. If my mom found us, however, she'd be furious!

I stood there silently and watched her. She soon went back into the kitchen. After a few seconds, I waved at Winry to come down. She hurried to my side as quickly and quietly as she could.

We hurried down the hallway and reached the last door on the right. That bathroom had another door and that door just happened to be right next to the back door.

"Come on," I whispered as I opened the door and locked it behind us.

I then rushed over to the other door and opened it, poking my head out. I didn't see anybody so we hurried over to the back door.

Right when we reached the door, I heard knocking on the bathroom door that I had locked.

"Hey, who's in there?" I heard my father say. "Ed, is that you?"

"Damn," I whispered. "It's my dad. You have to go. Look, chances are that nobody will see you since our houses are so close. Just run fast and don't make any noise when you're sneaking back in."

She nodded.

"You know, since you slept with me you're more obliged than ever to walk me to school," she said with a wink before she hurried out the door.

She left me there with my mouth wide open.

I slept with her, but not slept with her slept with her if you know what I mean. We were in the same bed, but nothing happened.

But the way she said it implied that it was the other kind of slept with. Even though she was only teasing me, I couldn't help the bright shade of red my face turned.

"Ed!" I heard my dad say again.

I closed the back door quietly and went back inside the bathroom, closing that door, too. Luckily enough, it didn't make a sound.

I flushed the toilet and turned on the water in the sink for a few seconds so I could sound convincing.

"Damn," I said as I unlocked the door and opened it. "Can't a guy use the bathroom in peace?"

"Took you long enough," he said. "And why are you wearing the same clothes as yesterday?"

I rubbed my eyes and yawned.

"Oh, I was watching a movie and I fell asleep in them," I told him. Hey, it was actually the truth. I only left out the fact that I fell asleep with Winry in my bed snuggled up against me.

"Wasn't Winry over last night? Did she get home alright?"

I stayed calm. After all, if I got flustered now he'd definitely know that something was up.

"Yeah. She made me watch some dumb chick flick with her and then she left. Speaking of her, I should go get ready for school so I can walk her there."

With that said, I quickly left and hurried upstairs. As luck would have it, Alphonse was just coming out of the bathroom.

"Morning brother," he said to me with a smile.

I didn't mean to ignore the way I did, but I rushed right by him and into the bathroom, closing the door in his face.

"Oh, morning Al," I call through the door.

As I undressed and stepped into the shower, I wondered if Winry had gotten home successfully.

I thought back to the dream I'd had. I never had dreams like that even though I'd had a couple of really good daydreams.

Was it the fact that she was sleeping right next to me that caused me to dream that? Whatever it was, it shocked the hell out of me.

As I grabbed the shampoo and poured some into my hand, I wondered if her lips were as soft as they had been in my dream, if they were just as warm.

Hey, I was a teenager. Didn't teenage guys fantasize about the girl of their dreams? Of course a lot of them didn't have to fantasize because they'd already seen some action…


	5. Awkward Aftermath

Best Friends and True Love

Awkward Aftermath

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Wow! There was so many reviews this time! It made me feel really great, so here's an update! BluestBunnie, thanks. I'm happy you finally found a worthwhile story and even happier that it's my story! Anyway, here's the chapter!

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"I really need to work out more," I said as I struggled to pull myself up to the branch of the tree that was closest to the window.

How did Ed do it? He climbed trees all the time and he made it look so dang easy.

"Made it," I whispered to myself as I reached the window. Luckily, it was halfway open. I opened it a little more, just enough for my to get through it. I stepped onto the washing machine without a sound and closed the window.

As soon as my feet landed on the floor, hurried over to the door and quietly opened it.

There was no sign of my parents. Things seemed to be going good. I left the utility room and closed the door without a sound and hurried down the hall to my room.

As soon as I was safely inside, I went over to my bed. I'd made the bed before I left for school yesterday.

I'd leave it like it was.

I took my clothes off and threw them into my basket before I stepped into the shower. I always woke up before my parents did and they should have been waking up about now.

And when my mother came to check on my I would be in the shower and nothing would look out of the ordinary.

I couldn't believe that I woke up this morning in Edward Elric's arms! I felt so happy and well rested when I opened my eyes. But then when I realized exactly where I was and what time it was, I panicked.

Still, though, the feeling of his arms wrapped around my, feeling my head against his chest, hearing the steady beat of his heart…

I sighed. He was just too good to be true, too perfect to be real, and yet there he was.

I dried myself off and wrapped a towel around myself before reaching for my hairdryer. My hair was dry in no time and I went to get dressed.

I returned to the bathroom to brush my teeth and that was when my mother opened the door.

"Hey mom," I said calmly through the toothbrush in my mouth.

"Morning. Ed's here rather early this morning. He said that Al had himself a ride to school and you two were on your own."

I continued to brush my teeth, not trusting myself to speak. Being alone with Ed might be awkward. Wait, what was she thinking? Ed, my best friend, awkwardness…that just didn't add up no matter where I woke up that morning.

My mother left and Ed came into the bathroom.

I gargled the mouthwash and spit it out.

I picked up my brush and ran it through my hair. He just stood there in the doorway, watching me without saying a single word.

I wondered what was on his mind, but I was reluctant to ask him.

Instead, I decided to make normal friendly conversation.

"Why are you just standing there like you got your tongue yanked out and you're incapable of speech?" I asked him as I stuck a piece of gum in my mouth and picked up my backpack.

He rolled his eyes and yanked the pack of gum out of my hand before taking a piece, too.

"I have something to say to you and I've been wondering how to tell you this ever since you left my house," he finally spoke.

I looked at him curiously.

"Oh? What is it?"

"It's…kind of hard to say. I'm afraid…"

"Huh?"

"I don't know how you're going to take this and…"

"Ed, just spit it out!"

He tossed the Chemistry book I'd left at his house onto the bed. I'd originally gone over there so he could help me study for our Chemistry test, but we'd ended up watching that dumb movie and then we'd fallen asleep.

"Winry, you didn't study for the Chemistry test and the test is today."

The horrified look on my face must've been priceless to him, but at least I know he did feel sorry for me.

He'd always been good at science, him and Al both. It just came naturally to them, something they got from their father.

He didn't have to study to do good, but he was worried about me since I had such a hard time changing grams to moles, moles to grams, converting to atoms, etc…

He'd explained it all to me the other day. He just hoped I would be able to remember it. I'd hadn't really been paying attention that day so he had no idea how I'd do…

I groaned as I looked down at my paper. She just had to give us all of these stupid problems where we had to convert and all of that stupid stuff. Why couldn't she throw some definitions or multiple choice at us?

Ed was the first person finished with his test. Noah was the second.

'I can't let Noah do better than me,' I thought angrily. 'I have to try to remember what Ed taught me. Now what was it he said….?'

I sat there for like ten minutes just trying to remember when all of a sudden it all came back to me.

'Oh, I get it!' I thought happily. 'You put 35 moles of aluminum there and multiply that by that and divide it by one and there's the answer!'

I got a bit excited and everything began to get easier for me. 'Oh, Ed did say that'd be easy,' I thought as I worked on the last problem, which had to do with percentage composition.

I finally finished and turned in my paper, giving Ed a happy smile.

As I sat down I looked up at Izumi who was looking over my paper briefly. The woman seemed to be pleased with it and she added it to the pile she'd grade after she got home.

I grabbed onto his arm and hugged it happily.

I grabbed a blue marker out of my bag and wrote "Thank U," on the top of his left hand.

He must've thought it was weird that I was writing something on his hand, but he just shrugged and got out a red marker before writing "U R Welcome" on my right hand.

I smiled at him and began to write my closest girl friend, Sheska, a note. There wasn't really much else to do to kill the time since the teacher didn't like for us to talk during tests.

I saw Noah glaring at me out of the corner of my eye. I kept my expression stoic even though I was smiling inside.

'She's jealous, isn't she?' I thought as I started the note. 'Ed probably wouldn't let her close enough to him to hug him on the arm…let alone fall asleep in the same bed. Uh…why can't I get that out of my head?! I've slept in the same bed as him before right? Then again, things are different since we are much older now…'

Things had drastically changed. It's like ever since we turned sixteen, maybe even a bit before that, our parents seemed to watch us more closely, as if they were expecting for something to happen…

I couldn't blame them considering what some of my classmates were doing behind their parents backs, though…

But I wasn't like that and neither was Ed.

I ran my fingers through my hair before I finished the note and folded it up, writing her name on the front of it. She was in my next class so I'd see her then.

The bell finally rang and I gathered up my stuff and waited on Ed. We left the classroom and headed for our lockers.

Somehow he managed to open his locker himself and looked extremely proud as he pulled out his book. I took a look inside of it and smiled at the picture that was inside. It was a picture of me, him, and Al at my fifteenth birthday party.

I was blowing out the candles, Ed was looking at the cake and he had his chin resting on my shoulder while Al was waving at the camera.

"Chocolate cake sounds yummy," I said as we headed toward the Spanish classroom. This class was nice and safe for me since I easily had an A in there.

Even though Ed was really smart and he was great at Chemistry what he wasn't that great at, however, was Spanish, which was our next class. I thought it was easy. What was so hard about it to him?

"Hey Sheska," I said as I sat down at our table. She sat to my left and Ed sat to my right.

Alphonse was in this class, too, even though he was a year younger than us so he sat on Ed's other side.

I handed her the note and got my notebook out of my backpack before grabbing a pencil, too.

The one thing I hated about this class was all the notes I had to take. I was good at the class, but I needed notes to help me understand. I wrote neat, but after about two pages of notes handwriting got a little sloppy. Then again, Spanish notes were nothing compared to the notes I had to take in my AP classes.

Ed and Al, on the other hand, always managed to write neat. I mean, I'm the girl, dang it! I should be the one to write pretty and neat. They both put me to shame…

Sheska laughed as she read what I wrote her. I told her about a joke I'd heard the other day and about how I thought I passed my Chemistry test and about how my wrist always felt like spaghetti after taking notes.

"Okay, class. It's time to get started. We're going to do a review of things from the first semester that you definitely should know."

"This should be easy for you," I told Ed. "This is the simple stuff."

"Yeah, easy for you to say…" he replied.

"Now you know how I feel in Chemistry when you say it's easy," I said with a grin.

"Okay…Translate this sentence to Spanish…Um…Winry. I am from Resembool."

That was one of the easiest things she could've asked me. I had no problem with this one.

"Yo soy de Resembool?" I answered.

"Si, muy bien!" our teacher, Mrs. Sanchez, spoke.

See? It was easy, child's play, really. She gave Ed an easy question, too, but he was clueless.

"Ed…Let's see…How do you say "my name is Edward"?"

He looked rather nervous. Okay, I knew he sucked at Spanish, but this badly?

"Uh…um…"

He had no clue!

"Mi nombre es Edward," I whispered so low that he could even barely hear that.

"Um….Mi nombre es Edward?" he answered.

"Si, muy bien."

"Thanks," he whispered with a smile.

This was something kind of like him forgetting his combination. It was times like this that he needed my help and I was happy to be of assistance.

By the time fifth period rolled around, something was strange about Ed. Russell had said hi to me before gym class started and I talked to him for a few minutes, but I wasn't talking to Ed because he was in a conversation with some random girl in the bleachers.

Anyway, they were playing dodge ball today. Normally Ed like to get Al out first just to get him out of the way, but today, for some reason, he viciously threw the ball straight at Russell Tringham's head!

It missed….barely…and he claimed that it was an accident to miss his head by half an inch.

After that, Ed tried to get Al out like he normally did, but Alphonse dodged every time Ed through the ball at him.

"Go Al!" I called from the bleachers.

Ed turned his head and glared at me. He was obviously getting frustrated.

"Damn Al! Just hold still!"

Al dodged him again and laughed at the angry look on Ed's face.

"You know brother, there are lots of other guys here to throw the ball at. If you're tired of my dodging, then you should aim for them instead."

"No way," Ed said. "I'm not getting them out until I get rid of you!"

It continued that way until Ms. Izumi told them to head to the locker room.

Al was the first one out and he hurried over to me.

"Hey Al, you did good!" I told him as I put my arm around his shoulder.

"Thanks. I'm tired of being brother's victim!" Alphonse said with a fake tear in his eye.

I laughed.

"Winry…have you noticed that brother is acting strange today? When I told him good morning he ran right by me and straight into the bathroom."

I shook my head.

"Nope. I don't have a clue. Are you sure he got a good night's sleep last night?" I asked, though I was laughing inside at that question.

"I don't know…Oh hey Noah!" Al said as he hurried to talk to her.

Al totally and obviously liked Noah. She was just too interested in Ed to see that Al liked her. He shot other girls down cold because he liked her so much.

I was ready for the day to be over with so I could go home. Spring Break was starting soon and I planned to do lots of sleeping and hanging out with Ed.

It sounded like a good plan to me.

He looked like he was in a bad mood when he left the locker room and sat down next to me. What had gotten into him lately?

I shrugged my questions off.


	6. Spring Break and the Lake

Best Friends and True Love

Spring Break and the Lake

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Laberinto de Cristal: I know, you were right. That's actually what I had down there. However, somebody (points over at the person next to me and glares) told me otherwise. So, thanks for doing that! Anyway, thanks for the reviews everybody. They all make me so happy! So here's the chapter.

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"Finally, Spring Break," I said as I woke up Saturday morning. It seemed normal. It was morning time, I felt well rested, light was coming in despite my curtains, and Winry was sitting at my desk eating a bowl of cereal.

Wait, that last part sounded weird. I looked at my desk again and she was still there eating cereal.

"Winry, what are you doing?"

"What?" she asked as she looked at me. "Oh, you're awake. I'm eating breakfast. What does it look like I'm doing?"

"It looks like you're here damn early in the morning again watching me sleep."

"Oops, I'm busted," she said sarcastically. "Come on Ed, did you forget?"

I sat up and scratched my head. "Forget what?"

She narrowed her eyes and stood up, putting her hands on her hips and looking pretty intimidating.

"You, me, today, the lake?"

Oh now I remembered.

"Oh, yeah. I remember now. Is it warm enough outside?"

She sat back down and picked her bowl up again.

"Yeah, unusually warm. By noon it'll be hot."

I swiped her bowl of cereal and dumped the rest of it into my mouth.

"Hey!" she said as she stood up, shocked.

"Hey, I have to eat, too," I told her calmly.

She crossed her arms over her chest.

"You get grossed out by me putting vampire teeth in my mouth that had been in your mouth but you have no problem eating or drinking after me? What's wrong with you?"

I rolled my eyes and left the room to go get ready.

Originally Al was supposed to come with us, but he'd caught a cold. He always caught a cold whenever the weather went from warm to cold and then back to warm.

I kind of felt sorry for him, but…not really.

When I was ready and came out of my room, which I'd chased her out of so I could get dressed, I found her in Al's room giving him a kiss on the forehead and handing him a Popsicle.

"Thank you Winry," he said weakly, which I knew he was faking to get some attention.

"Winry, are you gonna baby him all day or come with me?" I called from the staircase.

She hurried out of the room and grabbed my arm before running down the stairs.

We went to the garage and got into my red convertible. She was right. I was really warm today. At least we wouldn't be freezing in that water, then.

She must've already been to the garage since the stuff she'd brought was already in my car.

I laughed as I saw her put on a pair of black shades and let her hair down. She looked like one of those mysterious woman in the movies who liked to drive fast in convertibles with shades on and their hair flowing behind them in the wind.

I guess that's the look she was going for.

I grabbed my shades, too, and I pulled out of the driveway. I knew today would be a nice day. Winry always managed to make things interesting, even in the middle of a boring class at school.

I drove for about thirty minutes before we reached the lake. It was blue and sparkling and looked inviting. Winry was so excited that she was hopping around in her seat.

I think she ate more than a bowl of cereal that morning. She must've had about five candy bars, too, or something…

"Winry, calm down," I said as I tugged on her arm. "It's just a lake."

She stuck her tongue out at me. "It's not just a lake it's the lake that only you take me to! It's special."

I took the keys out of the ignition and stuck them in my pocket. "Come on," I said as I got out of the car. "If you're that happy about it then you should be over there already."

She stood on the edge of the water and looked out at the lake. It really was a nice day. One of the things that was so special about this lake was the fact that we were the only two who knew about it. So I guess it was special.

When we'd discovered the place we promised each other that we would never go there with anybody else no matter what.

There was a little cave off to the left of us where we kept an small boat. It was old, but it was still useable. We'd always used this boat when we came here.

"Come on," I said as we entered the cave. "Help me get it to the water."

We had it in the water in no time at all and Winry ran back to the car for a quick minute.

When she came back we hopped on the boat and I began to row us to the middle of the lake.

She'd brought a picnic basket with her. I was pretty hungry since all I got out of that bowl of cereal was the milk.

"Here," she said as she opened it and handed me a sandwich. She pulled herself out a piece of very dark, very burnt toast.

"Uh, how can you eat that?" I asked her in a disapproving tone.

"Oh come on Ed, dark toast is good!"

"No it's not. It tastes nasty. It's burnt."

"Just eat your sandwich," she said as she continued to eat her toast.

It wasn't just toast. She liked burnt popcorn, too, which is weird in my opinion.

She was eating a potato chip when all of a sudden she looked up.

"Hey, look at that," she said as she pointed at the sky. "That cloud looks like a bunny."

I looked up, turned my head, squinted my eyes, but I still didn't see a bunny.

"No it doesn't," I said as I continued to squint.

She threw a cupcake at my head.

"You have no imagination," she said.

I ate the cupcake. It was strawberry, my favorite, and it was good. I wondered if she baked them or bought them, but I didn't plan on asking her that.

"The light…it's too bright…it's blinding me!" she said as she shielded her eyes from the sun.

"Here," I said as I reached into my pocket and took out my shades before putting them on her. "You shouldn't have left your shades in the car.

"Thanks," she said as she adjusted them and sat back.

"Hey, lets play cards," I said as I took a deck out of my other pocket.

We'd played "Go Fish", her favorite card game, for about thirty minutes before we moved on to Old Maid.

"No fair!" she said as I pulled the eight of diamonds instead of the Jack we were using as the Maid. "How come you keep winning game after game after game?!"

I loved it when she got frustrated, it was pretty funny.

"I'm just that good," I told her after I took a drink of soda. "Nobody can beat me."

I avoided pulling the card again and she glared at me.

After about five games of losing, she threw her cards at me.

"I'm never playing cards with you again!" she said as she pouted.

I laughed.

"Okay I guess I'll tell you how I won. I could see the reflection of your cards in the shades."

"What?" she said before yanking the shades off and looking at them. After that she threw them at my head. "Ed, you cheated!"

I laughed again. It wasn't my fault that she fell for it. I expected her to throw something at me but I didn't expect for her to shove me and when she shoved me and fell out of the boat.

"Oh no! Ed, I'm so sorry!" she said as she rushed to the side of the boat. "Here, let me help you."

She reached her hand out to me.

"No, let me help you," I said as I grabbed her hand and pulled her in.

She screamed as she landed up the water.

"Ed! How could you?! I didn't even get to put my bathing suit on!"

"Hey, you're the one who pushed me in!"

"But that was an accident!"

"Well I just pulled you in and that wasn't an accident, so what?"

She splashed water in my face and took off swimming fast.

"Oh no you don't!" I said as I went after her and grabbed her leg.

She kicked me in the jaw and disappeared beneath the water.

I had no idea where she was until she resurfaced behind me and pushed my head completely under water!

But since my hands were free I grabbed her by the waist and yanked her under the water, too.

She let go of me and I let go of her.

When we both resurfaced we were gasping for air. Then we began to laugh.

"What would you do if you drowned me?" I asked her as I laid back in the water, looking up at the sky.

"Hmm? Oh, I think I'd probably chain your dead leg to a huge piece of concrete and let your body sink to the bottom of the lake. Since we're the only ones who know about this pace, nobody will ever find you."

She swam around for a few minutes before she laid back, too, spotting another cloud. "That one looks like a heart…"

As I followed her gaze I saw the cloud, too. "Hey, it actually does. You're not hallucinating this time."

"Or maybe," she said as she looked at me out of the corner of her eyes, "you have an imagination after all."

By noon it had gotten hot. I was happy that we were in the water, otherwise we'd both be dying from the heat.

It was only spring yet it felt like mid summer.

I saw Winry look at her hand and frown. We'd both been in there for so long that our skin had gotten wrinkly.

She looked reluctant to say what was on her mind, that we should go, so I finally broke the silence.

I grabbed her arm and pulled her with me toward the boat. "Come on. I heard that girls don't like wrinkles. It's time to go."

"Aw," she said in protest. "Okay, just as long as you promise to bring me back here before Spring Break is over with."

We reached the boat and got back inside it. "If it's a warm day, I will," I told her.

"Yay!" she said as she reached for the oars.

"Hey, wait. Are you sure you want to row the boat this time?"

"Do you think I'm not strong enough or something, Ed?"

"I never said that, but now that you mention it…"

She stuck her tongue out at me and took us back to shore. I was impressed by her endurance though I knew she had to be tired.

But Winry was too proud to admit she couldn't do it so I just sat back and relaxed, enjoying the sunshine, the breeze, and her struggling.

We were both soaking wet. I had an extra change of clothes in the car. The only thing she'd brought along was the bathing suit she'd been planning to wear.

I changed my clothes quickly enough and saw her standing there, looking at me expectantly. I tossed my long red coat at her, which I'd left in the backseat a few days before.

"You're kidding, right?" she said as she looked at the coat in her hands.

That's the best I can do for you right now. Take it or leave it. You know I hate getting the inside of my car wet so if you choose to leave it, I'll be leaving you here."

"You wouldn't leave me," she said with a laugh before she went to the cave to change.

She had the coat wrapped securely around herself and the wet clothes in her arms.

"I swear, if you try to pull anything with me, I'll…"

It was my turn to laugh this time.

"Yeah right! Just get in the car," I said as I hopped into the driver's seat and started the car.

By the time we got home it was three o'clock, in the afternoon of course. I saw Al open his curtain and look at the both of us in avid interest. I'd definitely have to explain this one to him.

"Um…I'll wash your coat and give it back to you later or tomorrow," she told me as she hurried up the front steps of her house. "See ya."

I'd always liked that coat and I'd seen her wear it a bunch of times. However, seeing her walk into her house wearing nothing but that coat of mine only made me love it even more.


	7. The One Who Cares

Best Friends and True Love

The One Who Cares

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Thanks for reading and reviewing. I really appreciate it. This chapter should show you even more how much that Ed and Winry care about each other. So please read it.

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"Oh come on," I said as I read the note on the counter. "I leave the house for a couple of hours and they decide to run off for a week?"

I was pretty disappointed since my parents had been gone more and more lately. And they usually were gone to different places. It was like they didn't care where they were just as long as they weren't near each other.

"I guess that means I'll be alone for Easter," I said to myself as I walked to the refrigerator.

I realized I wasn't really hungry so I left the room, heading to the living room instead.

After grabbing the remote I sat on the couch and turned on the television. My favorite soap opera was on, and I saw Brenda confessing her love to Ben.

"Ben, we've been best friends for so long," Brenda said. "You know me better than anybody and you complete me. Ed, I love you!"

"Oh, she finally went for it! Wait, did she just call him Ed?"

Before I knew it, Ben turned into Ed and Brenda turned into me!

"Winry," Ed said. "You're my best friend and I care about you, but Noah is the one I love."

Just then, Noah appearance next to Ed and took his arm.

I grabbed the pillow next to me and hit the TV. When I looked, Ben was Ben again and Brenda was Brenda. Ben finally admitted that he loved Brenda, too.

I heard a knock at the door, so I put the pillow back and went to see who was there.

"Ed," I said as I opened the door. "What are you doing here?"

He came inside and went to the kitchen.

"I came her to help you dye some eggs since it's Easter," he said as he sat half a dozen of eggs on the table. "Besides, who'll help you if I don't?"

I smiled. He was right. Easter was my favorite holiday, yet my parents didn't seem to care.

"But you hate eggs," I said as I watched him take some food coloring out of a cabinet.

"I do," he said to me before turning around, "but you don't."

He was selfless. He always did things for me, even if it was something he didn't like. Like when I was fourteen. It was our second summer knowing each other. I was trying to hone my mechanical skills and he actually let me experiment on his brand new bike.

Of course I put it back together perfectly, but for all he knew, I could have really messed it up! He believed in me and my abilities like nobody else ever had.

That was one of the things that made him Ed and it was also one of the things that made me love him.

How could her parents abandon her on her favorite holiday?

She loved Easter. I never understood why she loved it so much since I think there are far better holidays out there. But since it meant so much to her, I loved Easter, too.

Besides, it always was funny to see her go up to her room and come running back down the stairs wearing a pair of pink bunny ears on top of her head.

She kept to the tradition and I laughed as she came down the stairs with the ears. That I expected. What I didn't expect, however, was the fact that she put them on my head instead.

"What the…!" I said as she stepped back and raised the camera she had been hiding behind her back.

Before I knew it, I saw the camera flash and I heard her laugh.

"Very funny," I said sarcastically as I reached for the camera.

She switched the camera to her other hand and held it out of my reach.

"Oh come on Ed," she said as she took another picture. "It was a cute picture. You look so cute with bunny ears!"

I reached for the camera again. "Cute? I'm not trying to be cute!"

She rolled her eyes.

"Ed, you don't have to try to be cute. You just are.

I blushed. Did she just call me cute…again?! I didn't give up on the camera. I grabbed one of her arms to make her hold still, but she stuck it in her back pocket.

"Give up now," she said confidently. "We both know you won't reach into my back pocket to get it."

I growled out of frustration. She was right, and after that dream I had before, I wasn't going anywhere near it. I sighed in defeat.

She just looked so happy about it. I didn't want to do anything that would make her feel otherwise. So even if I had to wear those damn bunny ears, I'd do it to see that smile on her face.

As far as I was concerned, it was worth it.

"Done," I said as I took the last egg out of its cup.

It was a nice shade of red, his favorite color. It had been so much fun playing around with Ed and dying the eggs. it helped me to take my mind off of my parents.

I saw Ed's nose twitching slightly before he narrowed his eyes. It was weird, but he always did that when he saw something he didn't like. In fact, that was the way he always looked whenever he saw Russell Tringham. And it was also the way he was looking at that egg. I just didn't understand why he didn't like eggs.

The bunny ears were on my head. Though they'd looked a thousand times better on Ed, I took mercy on him and let him take them off.

I did, however, keep my camera safe and sound since he might try to destroy it the first chance he could get.

I grabbed me a soda and went to the living room before sitting on the couch and turning on the TV. He sat down next to me and I saw him stick a piece of candy into his mouth out of the corner of my eyes.

"Hey!" I said as I forced his mouth open to survey the piece of chocolate. "You're holding out on me! You have candy, don't you?"

He grinned mischievously before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a handful of chocolates and jelly beans!

"The chocolate's mine," he told me teasingly.

I frowned. He knew that I hated jelly beans. "Oh, come on Ed, just give me some chocolate!"

"Nope," he told me quickly as he stuck out his tongue, which had turned brown from the delicious chocolate he was eating.

"Pretty please?"

He shook his head. I glared at him.

"I'll be your best friend!" I tried again, reaching for the chocolate which he held right under my nose before pulling away.

"Ha! You already are my best friend. Nice try," he told me as he put more chocolate into his mouth and looked as if he were really enjoying it.

I crossed my arms over my chest and looked straight into his eyes. I had found the opening that I needed. "Okay Ed, if I really were your best friend, if you were my best friend, too, then you would give me some chocolate, right? That's what real friends do…"

His eyes widened in shock! He had just been defeated and he knew it. Then he laughed and dumped some chocolate into my hand.

"Yay!" I said as I unwrapped a piece and stuck it in my mouth. It was creamy and had peanut butter, too. "Yum!"

"You are so easily pleased," he said as he took the remote and changed the channel.

I reached for the remote, but he held it out of my reach.

"Hey!" I said as I tried to get it again.

"Come on now Winry. You got chocolate and I got the remote. Equivalent exchange, right?"

"Forget equality!" I said as I grabbed the remote finally. "Besides, it's my house!"

I was about to change the channel when I realized what was on. It was my favorite movie.

"Oh," I said as I dropped the remote and turned to look at him. And that was when I realized that the soda I'd brought back with me from the kitchen was now in his hands and going down his throat!

"Hey!" I said as I snatched the soda away. "This is mine! Get your own!"

"Nope," he said as he grabbed my hand and forced the soda to his lips again. "I don't think that I will.

"Bad Edward, bad!" I said as I treated him as if he were a dog who had been caught drinking out of the toilet.

"I'm not a dog, you know," he said as he released my hand.

I took a drink of the soda and sat it down on the coffee table. "In your opinion. I beg to differ, however…"

It was a romantic movie, yet also very tragic. Two young people met and fell in love on a ship that was fated to end up at the bottom of the ocean. If you haven't figured it out already, the movie was Titanic.

I always cried whenever Jack died. Ed, the cold and heartless guy, always laughed at me for it. And then at then very end I always cried tears of joy as the two lovers were reunited.

As the ending credits began and the beautiful song at the end started, I began to cry even harder than before.

"Oh come on!" Ed said with a laugh. "It's just a movie Winry. Calm down."

"You jerk!" I said as I hit his shoulder. "It may be a movie, but it was so sad. Why did he have to die? Why did they end up being torn apart?"

"Because," he said as he closed his eyes. "That's just how it was meant to be."

"Really?" I said as I began to wipe my eyes. "What would you do if you fell deeply in love with some woman and then you lost her?"

He didn't answer me as he took the remote again and found something else to watch.

I was deeply in love myself. I was in love with Ed. And if I ever lost him, then what would my life be like after that?

I didn't want to think about it. I shook my head quickly before laying it on his shoulder.

He'd found a nice, safe comedy that was guaranteed not to make me break out into tears.

Of course I did end up crying, but that was only because I'd been laughing so hard.

When the movie ended, I stood up and stretched before going to the kitchen and cracking one of the eggs before grabbing the salt and pepper.

I was really hungry, after all.

Ed sent me a disapproving look before he grabbed the phone.

"What are you doing?" I asked as he began to dial a number.

"What does it look like? I'm ordering a pizza," he told me before he began to talk to the person on the other line.

I shrugged before finishing the egg and going to my room to my computer. I had wanted to check my email.

I loved computers, or rather, I loved taking them apart. It was all pretty fascinating to me how I could completely dismantle such a complex piece of machinery and then be able to put it back together perfectly.

I logged off of my account and went to my window. I saw a car pull up to the house and a man go to the door carrying a pizza.

My stomach growled and I was glad Ed didn't hear it. He'd probably have a great time teasing me over it. He always did, after all.

We had just got done eating our pizza when the phone rang. I went to pick it up. "Hello?"

"Winry," I heard my mother say. "Look, I was asked to do a surgery in Central and your father's still in Dublith. We'll be back in about two weeks. You'll be alright until then."

"But…Two weeks?! That's so long," I said.

"It can't be helped. We're doctors. Things like this happen."

"But…" I began.

"No buts about it. I have to go now. I'll call you in a couple of days."

"But…" I tried again. I was too late. She'd already hung up.

"But…" I said quietly, the dial tone my only answer. "Today's my birthday…"

I turned off the phone and leaned against the wall, my tears beginning to fall.

It was my birthday. That was yet another reason I loved Easter so much. While so many people, myself included, were eating candy and decorating eggs and celebrating the holiday, I was being celebrated, too.

Yet right now I felt as if there was nothing worth celebrating. My parents had been gone a whole month before that. In fact, they'd only been home for a few weeks before they hurried off again.

The only reason I'd had to sneak back into my house before was because they were actually there for once.

Last year they had almost forgotten my birthday completely and this year they had finally succeeded.

"What's wrong?" Ed said as he grabbed my hand and pulled me to my feet.

I wrapped my arms around him and buried my face in his chest. We stood there for a while until I finally calmed down and told him what was wrong.

"Am I really not important?" I asked him as we went back to the living room. "I don't care if I get cake or presents or anything else. Material things don't really matter as long as somebody is there caring about me."

"You're the one who told me not to get you a cake today," he said. "But that didn't stop me from getting this."

He pulled something else out of his pocket, the same pocket he'd had the candy in. It was a plastic egg.

"What?" I said, confused.

"Open it," he told me as he placed it in my hand.

As I opened it up, I saw a beautiful gold ring. It had a large, but very pretty Easter egg which was cracked. Coming out of the center of the egg was a beautiful white gem.

"Wow…" I said as I looked at the ring. "Ed…I don't know what to say…um…thank you."

"Happy birthday," he said before he slipped it onto my finger. It was a perfect fit.

I was happy, really happy, even though I was still very sad.

"You're not alone, Winry," he said as he tilted my chin upwards and looked into my eyes. "And as long as I'm here, you should know that you are cared about."

"Ed…" I said softly as my eyes began to get teary again.

"Hey, come here," he said as he sat onto the couch and took my hand, pulling me into his lap.

He pulled me up against his chest, my head so near his heart. His strong arms wrapped around me, embraced me, and I began to feel so much better.

He was warm, so very warm, and he made me feel warm, too. He sat there for a long time holding me, erasing as much of my upset as possible.

As I finally began to drift into a deep sleep I realized something. I realized that Edward could've been at home with his family and eating happily while enjoying what was left of the holiday, yet he was in my house holding me, dispelling all of my pain and my fears.

I loved him. And even if he didn't love me the same way, I knew then that he was my very best friend, and that he truly did care.


	8. Preparations

Best Friends and True Love

Preparations

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Finally, I'm back! Ha! I'm so sorry I was unable to update sooner. It was because of my computer. This story is almost over anyway. Anyway, thanks for the reviews! I'm so happy. Unfortunately, my spell checker is messed up, so I hope there aren't any mistakes! Here's the chapter.

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I woke up that morning to a familiar feeling. I was warm, comfortable, and most of all, I knew I was safe. As I heard a heart beating beneath my ear, I realized that I definitely wasn't in my bed.

I felt arms wrapped around me and I remembered that I'd fallen asleep while Edward was holding me. I opened my eyes and I saw that Ed was still asleep. Had he slept as good as I did? I couldn't help but wondering that.

After I'd fallen asleep, he must've laid down and taken me with him. He'd stayed there with me the whole night, making sure that I was okay. Ed wasn't perfect, nobody is, but I knew that he was the perfect person for me.

He looked so peaceful, so carefree, like I probably did when I was asleep. But he was the only person I knew who could make me feel that way when I was awake, especially during the times I felt so horrible.

I smiled as I continued to look at him and then I remembered the ring around my finger. It was so beautiful as the sunlight hit it. He'd always known Easter was my favorite holiday and this ring was perfect for me. Sure, my best girl friend, Sheska, had given me jewelry for birthdays and Christmas before, but this ring was different.

Ed had never given me anything like this before. So that ring was more special to me at that moment than anything anybody had given me in my life. I kissed the ring and smiled even more. I settled back against him and closed my eyes once more.

I expected to drift back off to sleep, to spend even longer being held in his arms. But what I hadn't expected was what Ed did.

"Winry," he whispered so softly that I could barely hear it. He said it in a whimsical, gentle way, as if at that moment, it was the only name in the world.

I opened my eyes and looked up at him. He was still asleep. Was he dreaming about me? I got shivers just thinking about the way he said my name. Nobody had ever said it like that before. It wasn't just whimsical or gentle; it brought many more descriptions to mind.

I guess that the only way to describe it all put together was just one word: beautiful. He said my name in a beautiful way, as if my name was beautiful, and that made me feel beautiful.

Raising my hand, I reached towards his sleeping face, bringing it down over his cheek. It was warm, just like the rest of him, and soft.

He raised his own hand and caught mine, holding his over it and cradling his cheek. He opened his eyes and looked at me with his amazing golden eyes, the eyes that I always had loved. They were more golden and bright than the sun itself sometimes. I loved that. I loved him.

"Hey there," he said, looking straight into my eyes, gold meeting blue.

"Good morning," I said, my heart suddenly beating faster for some reason.

I hadn't really wanted him to wake up. Him waking up meant that I would have to get up and I was very reluctant to leave the warmth of his embrace.

He yawned and wiped his eyes before blinking a couple of times and looking at me again. He smiled that brilliant smile of his and brought my hand to his lips before kissing it gently.

"Do you feel better?" he asked me, concern in his eyes, written on his face.

I smiled back weakly. It wasn't week because of my previous upset or because he'd brought it back up. Nope, it was weak because he kissed my hand. The feelings that overwhelmed me from that sensational kiss was what made me weak. I was weak in the knees, too, and I was sure I'd be falling to the ground right now if I were standing.

It was at that moment that I wondered if his lips would feel just as warm and soft if they were on my own lips instead of my hand.

"Yeah, I do feel better. Thank you…You could've been home with your family but you stayed here with me…and then you slept with me on this lumpy couch all night.…"

"Well, what are best friends for, after all? Besides, I think you'd do the same for me," he said faintly, as if there was something else he wanted to say but was holding back.

Friends….Best friends…that's all we were. I wished with all of my heart that we were more than that, more than just friends. And he was right. I'd do the same thing for him in a heartbeat.

I raised my hand and looked at the ring yet again. The little jewel in the middle of the cracked egg caught the sunlight and shone bright.

I smiled at him again. I felt so warm, fuzzy, comfortable, and safe all at the same time. If I could wake up to this every morning, wake up with him every morning…I'd be truly happy.

If only I had enough nerve to kiss him. Now would be the perfect opportunity, too. But I just didn't have it in me to do it. After all, I was afraid of rejection. And more than that, I was afraid that rejection would ruin our friendship.

"What time is it?" I asked quietly as I looked away from his golden orbs.

He raised his wrist and looked at his watch. "Almost ten thirty," he replied. "I guess I should get home. My mom will want to know where I was all night and my dad probably has some disturbing ideas in his head…"

"Wait, what disturbing ideas?" I asked curiously.

He blushed and looked away. "Nothing, nothing. Just…stuff. Anyway, I have to go. But I'll be back later, so you should be ready by then."

I stifled a yawn before I asked him, "Read for what?"

He smiled. "You honestly forgot about what's going on down by the pier? They're having games and a party, not to mention food and fireworks when it gets dark. You were so excited about it last week that you wouldn't shut up about it."

My eyes widened as I remembered. I had talked nonstop about how he just had to take me and about how fun it would be.

"Yay!" I said happily. "That is today, isn't it?"

He released me from his embrace and sat up on the couch. I stood up and stretched before watching him do the same thing. I didn't want him to go. I wanted him to stay there with me and hold me a little longer. But I knew that if he did hold me longer I'd be even more reluctant to see him go.

Besides, the sooner he left, the sooner he'd come back and take me to that party, right?

I'd almost forgotten all about it. In fact, I had made plans to go to the mall with Sheska and Rose so that I could look for a good dress to wear to it.

As a matter of fact, I should have been getting ready to meet up with them right now! I didn't want to hurry Ed out the door, but…

"Okay you should go then!" I said as I rushed him to the door. "Bye now!"

I closed the door in his face and hurried up to my room to go take a shower and get dressed.

I looked out of my window and saw Ed making the short journey to his house. It was going to be a great night, I just knew it. Ed was taking me to a party. It was kind of like a date…I blushed at that thought.

By the time I was done getting ready Sheska had pulled up in the car and Rose was already with her.

"Hey," I said as I opened the door and climbed into the back seat before closing it behind myself. "Right on time."

As we drove by Ed's house, I saw him standing on the front porch saying something to Al. They both waved at me and I waved back, of course. Whatever they were talking about seemed to be pretty important since Ed was slightly nibbling on his bottom like he normally did whenever he was really thinking about something.

"Ed's a great guy," Rose said from her seat as she peered out the window. "You're really lucky to have him."

I smiled.

"I guess I am. I don't know what I'd do without him. He's always there for me, no matter what…" I trailed off and thought about how much Ed had done for me. He was my rock, I guess, something I could always lean on.

They both exchanged meaningful looks that I didn't understand. It was like they knew something that I didn't but as if they were unwilling to tell me.

I shrugged before looking out the window and watching the world quickly go by. My parents were doctors. They had to work a lot, but they'd always managed to find time for me. But it seemed these days that they grew more and more distant.

They'd take trips often, yet not together and when they weren't gone on a trip, they were working. And that left me home alone, unless of course, I decided to go over to the Elric's house and bother them.

Sometimes it felt to me as if Trisha and Hohenheim were more like a mother and father to me than my own parents were.

I sighed. I'd spent all of my teenage years so far with Ed and Al, growing up with them. They'd been like brothers to me. But somewhere along the line, Ed became something much more.

I thought back to the way he said my name, to the way he kissed my hand, to the way he held me in his arms even after I fell asleep. And the way he looked at me with those brilliant golden eyes…How did Edward feel about me?

He couldn't love me back, could he? I shook my head. I didn't dare to dream something so wonderful.

We arrived at the mall quickly and we began to shop. I had to find the perfect dress. I wanted to look my best. I wanted to make an impression on Ed. I wanted to look the same way hearing my name floating from his lips made me feel: beautiful.

"Come on Winry," Sheska said as she grabbed my arm and pulled me into a store behind her.

I didn't find anything I liked there. It was the same when we went to the next store.

"Here," I said as I handed Rose a simple, yet beautiful white dress. "This will look great on you!"

"You think so?" she asked as she pulled it up in front of herself and looked into the nearby mirror.

Sheska had found an outfit for herself and was heading to the dressing rooms.

"Just give it a try. You know, Alphonse always has liked seeing white on girls…" I said with a wink.

She blushed before se nodded and hurried to the dressing rooms, too.

Rose really liked Al. I thought they'd make a cute couple so I was silently cheering her on.

The problem was that Al had a crush on Noah, which I was deeply opposed to. Al deserved better. That was my opinion and I was sticking to it.

I grabbed a few random dresses and followed them to the dressing rooms. I closed the door behind me and I quickly undressed.

I picked up the first dress and put it on. It was an orange dress. It showed way too much cleavage and it was really short. Plus, I looked just like a basketball in it.

The next on was pale pink. T was pretty and I liked it, but the sleeves were too big and it was a bit too long.

The last one was a purple so I immediately rejected that one. The other two hadn't turned out so well so I didn't really plan on giving this one a try. Add that to the fact that I'd look like a big grape if I walked around in that dress and you have yourself a good example of fashion disaster.

I sighed out of frustration as I left the dressing room. I saw Sheska and Rose paying for their clothes and that was when I saw it.

On display behind the glass of the store right across from us was the perfect dress!

I pulled out of the garage and drove the short distance to Winry's driveway. The flutter of her curtains drew my attention, but I didn't see her. I merely shrugged before going to the door. It wasn't locked so I let myself in.

"Hey Win," I called as I closed the door. "Are you ready yet?"

It took her a minute to answer me. "Almost."

I leaned against the back of the door, my arms crossed over my chest. I wasn't in a hurry so I just waited for a while. I got thirsty and I was about to go to the kitchen and get a soda when she came walking down the stairs.

It was so shocked that my mouth was wide open. It was a good thing I didn't get that soda because however much of it would've been in my mouth would now have been on the floor in front of my feet and probably even down the front of my shirt.

"Wow" was the only word that came to mind.

She was wearing a red dress, my favorite color, that barely reached her knees. The straps of the dress were thin and cradled her slender shoulders. It hugged her body for the most part, yet it fluffed out towards the bottom.

Like I said, it was red, but different shades. The top of it started out a bright red and it ended up very dark by the time it reached the bottom.

Se was wearing red hoop earrings and her hair was loose and wavy. She was even wearing red heels and I noticed she'd even painted her finger nails and toe nails. And if that wasn't enough, she was even wearing a little makeup.

She reached the bottom of the stairs and looked at me in a confused way, as if she had no idea why I was looking at her the way I was.

"Ed, are you okay?" she asked as she put her hand under my chin and closed my mouth for me since I seemed to be incapable of doing it my self.

"Yeah…" I said faintly. "I'm okay…I'm better than okay…"

She smiled shyly.

"So…how do I look?" she asked as she spun around quickly.

"G…great," I chocked out. "Great!"

Great? Great? Now I sounded like Tony the Frosted Flakes tiger. Great…why did I say that when I knew she looked much better than great?!

She smiled at me again and I smiled back weakly.

"Shall we?"

I offered her my arm and she took it gladly before we hurried out of the house.


	9. A Romantic Night Until it was Ruined

Best Friends and True Love

A Romantic Night Until it was Ruined!

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I'm happy to be back and that I got such nice reviews. Thanks. One more chapter after this, so please read it! Here's the chapter.

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Ed had totally spaced out the moment he saw me. I remembered the look on his face and I blushed. Did I make that much of an impression on him?

He looked so great! But I'm going to describe how he looked in the simplest way. He had his hair back in a ponytail instead of the usual braid. He was wearing a red shirt that revealed some of his chest since the first few buttons were left forgotten.

He was wearing jeans, my favorite pair which had lots of pockets with buttons and zippers here and there. He was hot, hotter than usual, and I thought I might start to sweat.

I was really enjoying myself. Ed had gone off to talk to one of our classmates, so I was dancing with Alphonse. He'd been almost as shocked as Ed had been when he saw me.

The song ended and I laughed as he spun me around one last time before he hugged me tightly. I saw Rose standing nearby as the next song started.

"Hey I see Ed coming back," I told him quickly. "Why don't you go dance with Rose?"

He turned around and spotted her before blushing, smiling, and hurrying in her direction. Rose looked so happy even though she was obviously a little shy. I heard her laugh as Al swept her off her feet. That Al could be a real charmer.

I'd lied to him. Ed wasn't coming back yet. I'd just told him that so that I could get him to go dance with Rose. Speaking of Ed, he had been gone for a little while now. I still didn't see him.

I felt somebody tap on my shoulder and I turned around and saw Ed.

"Hey," he said as I looked at him. "Did you and Al have fun?"

I nodded, "Yep. And now he's over there having a good time with Rose."

Ed turned his head and looked at his brother as he danced. Both of them could tell that there was definitely some potential and chemistry there.

"They'd make a nice couple," Ed said. "Though it sucks that my own little brother has had more dates than I have…"

I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms over my chest. Okay, so maybe the fact that he hadn't had many dates was partly my fault…

After all, I'd secretly sabotaged a couple of the few dates he'd been on. Besides, he hadn't really looked like he was actually interested in any of them anyway, so…I was just saving him from potential disaster…

"Come on," I said as I grabbed his arm. "I want to dance. And since I sent my previous dance partner away, I'll have to settle for you!"

"Hey!" he said in response, but still let me have my way.

We'd danced to a couple of songs before we decided to walk through the crowds of people who had gathered.

There were a few rides set up, including a ferris wheel which he somehow convinced me to go on. The view of the water from the top was beautiful, but for some reason I had a feeling that the water wasn't what he was looking at since he kept glancing at me.

I fought back a blush and looked down yet again at the ring that he had given me. I smiled.

Later he had won me a little yellow teddy bear with golden eyes. He'd won it by shooting a few basketballs successfully into the baskets.

"I think I'll name him Edward," I said as I hugged the little bear.

He gave me a curious and amused look. "Oh really? That's weird."

"What's so weird about it? It has yellow hair, just like you do, and it even has your golden eyes!"

"Okay, now you're making it sound as if it's my kid."

I laughed at that.

"Maybe it is. You never know…" I said teasingly as I put my hand on his shoulder.

It was his turn to laugh.

We were just walking along, minding our own business when all of a sudden, the principal of our school just happened to show up.

"Edward. Nice to see you," Principal Mustang said as he spotted us. "And who is this young lady? Won't Winry get mad when she finds out?"

I looked from Mustang to Ed and then back again. Ed had an amused look on his face and coughed into his hand to hide a laugh.

"Um…Principal Mustang…I am Winry," I told him as I took another look at Ed.

He looked at me in disbelief for a second before his expression changed to shock, amusement, and then to some strangely awed look.

I heard an impressed whistle come from behind us and I saw that vice principal Hughes there, too."

"Winry," he said as he reached Mustang's side, his wife and daughter with him. "You look nice."

"Geez, at least somebody recognized me," I said in a pouting tone.

"Daddy," Elicia said as she looked up at Hughes. "Will I look that pretty someday?"

Gracia laughed and Hughes nodded. "Maybe even prettier!"

"Ed, let's go before I pull out my wrench."

"You brought that thing?"

"Of course," I said, holding it up. "I take it everywhere."

He looked at me like I was crazy and I could tell he was wondering where I'd been hiding it all this time. Well, he'd have to keep wondering.

"Okay, I think that's enough of you having fun at Ms. Rockbell's expense," Riza Hawkeye, Mustang's secretary, said as she appeared with some cotton candy.

"You're here, too, Ms. Riza?"

"She's here with me," Mustang said as he put his arm around her."

"Oh, I see. It's a date," Edward teased.

Hawkeye blushed and Mustang grinned.

"Well, maybe I could say the same thing to you," Mustang said.

We both blushed.

"Anyway, we have to go. See you around shorty," Mustang said with a wave before him and his entourage departed.

"Who are you calling a runt so tiny that he can't reach the doorknob?! I'll show you!" Ed said as he began to hurry after Mustang.

I grabbed his shoulder and stopped him.

"Oh come on Ed," I said quickly. "You're not short anymore so you have nothing to worry about."

He glared at me.

"Not short anymore?! Are you saying that I was short?"

I shook my head in frustration.

"Just get over it," I said as I grabbed his hand and led him through the crowd, my teddy bear still in my other arm.

We were sitting down on a bench when I saw somebody selling shaved ice. I was a bit thirsty now that I thought about it.

"Edward," I said as I bumped his arm to get his attention.

"Hmm?" he asked.

I pointed towards the shaved ice.

"Thirsty?"

I nodded.

He shrugged before getting up and going over there. He came back with green apple for me, which is my favorite. He'd gotten strawberry.

He loved strawberry. It was his favorite fruit and his favorite flavor for everything. It was even his favorite milk. He hated milk and the only milk he didn't refuse to drink was strawberry.

It was good. I loved anything and everything green apple, especially candy. I didn't even have to tell him what kind I wanted. He just knew, exactly like I knew what he'd get himself.

I guess it was a best friend thing or something. Whatever it was, it had become second nature to us both, something that unconsciously functioned, I suppose.

"Here," I said as I held it up to his face. "Taste mine."

He shrugged before he took it. In the meantime, he handed me his. Don't get me wrong now. I liked strawberry, too. It was just that I loved green apple.

When we got finished we had started walking again when he suddenly remembered that we'd seen some delicious looking cotton candy in Riza's hand and wondered where she got it from.

We found the place easily enough and we shared some cotton candy. I was so happy. I was having a great time. I always had a great time when I was with Ed. It didn't matter if we were sitting around doing absolutely nothing, it'd still be great.

"Here," he said as he stuck some cotton candy in my mouth. It dissolved quickly and I stuck my tongue out at him.

We spent a bit more time dancing. Alphonse, I noticed, was still hanging out with Rose. Rose, the lucky girl, looked as if she was having the time of her life. I'd spotted Sheska easily. She was dancing with another one of our classmates, Falman.

He was a nice guy, though he could be a bit too uptight sometimes. But all in all, I still liked him.

"Hey," I said as we joined Al and Rose. "Having fun?"

Rose looked at me like she wanted to nod until her head flew off. But with Alphonse there, she didn't want to look so eager.

I gave her a thumbs up and put my arm across Al's shoulder in a nonchalant way.

"We've been walking around for what feels like forever," Ed said as Al put his arm across my shoulder, too.

"We weren't walking that long," I told him. "Besides, just be happy that I'm not having you take me shopping again."

Ed sighed in a frustrated fashion.

Al and rose had wanted to dance again, so we left them alone and went to dance ourselves.

After about one dance, he decided that he wanted to sit out on the dock.

The sun was beginning to set so it wouldn't be too long before they started the fireworks.

I took off my shoes and let my feet linger in the water. I sat them down on the other side of me. I sighed. It really had been a great day.

I looked over at Ed and he was watching the sunset. I looked at it, too. It was so beautiful, so calming. It made me feel pretty peaceful.

"Hey, Ed," I said as I leaned my head on his shoulder. "Do you ever wonder what's going to happen? I mean, after we graduate?"

He looked down at me for the briefest of seconds before looking back at the sky. "I think about it every day. If I should go to college, what college I should go to, what I should major in…I'm always thinking about that."

I was just as confused as he was. We both had to make some decisions and make them soon. I sighed. I didn't want to ask my next question, but I just had to. So here it goes…

"And…what about you and me?"

"Huh?" he asked, looking at me with a confused expression.

"We've been best friends for so long Ed. I don't want to lose that after high school. I don't want to lose you."

He sighed was he leaned his head on my head. "You won't Winry, trust me. Look, maybe we could go to the same college, huh?"

I shrugged before nodding, despite the added weight on my head. "I guess so. Then we could work in the same town…"

Oh, what was I saying? I didn't want to "lose" him? How pathetic was that?! What was I thinking?

We sat there for a while, lost in our own thoughts.

"Come on," he said after a while of sitting as he stood up and helped me to my feet. "I want to dance again."

I smiled before I put my shoes back on.

"Okay, lets go," I said as I began to walk away. But he grabbed my arm.

"No," he said as he put his hands on my shoulders. "We can hear the music just fine where we are. Why don't we dance right here?"

It seemed like a nice, yet very romantic idea to me. Me and him dancing in the darkness on the dock as the moon began to rise and cast it's light across the water and the stars began to shine….Yep, nice and romantic.

And yet I wouldn't have it any other way.

A nice, slow song had just started. As we wrapped our arms around each other and began to move to the music, I recognized it as an old Mariah Carey song, "My All".

I'd always thought it was a very pretty song, yet sometimes it made me sad. But right now, Ed was enough to keep me from that sadness and make me happy.

'I'd give my all to have just one more night with you.  
I'd risk my life to feel your body next to mine!  
And I can't go on living in the memory of last night…'

I stopped listening to the song when I saw a flash of light. Ed and I looked up at the sky and saw that the fireworks had started.

They were beautiful, lighting the night sky one after another. I sighed in content and we stood there for a bit, just watching the fireworks.

And then we began to dance again since the song was still going. We were dancing on the dock in the darkness with the moon reflecting across the water, the stars shining, and the fireworks lighting the heavens above us.

I didn't want this moment to end, I wanted it to last forever, yet all good things must eventually come to an end. And that was a pill that I definitely wasn't willing to swallow.

"Listen, Winry," Ed said, looking at me seriously, more seriously than I'd ever seen him look before. "What you said earlier, about what's going to happen to us….It got me to thinking and there's something I've been wanting to tell you…"

My heart began to beat faster, harder, and I felt nervous. But with this nervousness came excitement, hope. The look in his eyes at that moment, as more fireworks sprang to life in the sky and lit his face…It was magical, and it made me feel at that moment that maybe, just maybe, he might have loved me, too.

"What is it?" I asked, looking deep into his eyes, those beautiful golden orbs that I could easily get lost in.

"Winry…um…I…I love," he began.

"Ed!" we both turned our heads to see Al calling and waving. "Ed, come here quick."

"But…" he said as he looked from Al to me and back again.

I sighed. "Go ahead. This shouldn't take long," I told him.

He sighed, too. "Okay. I'll finish telling you when I come back, I promise."

I was alone, yet I didn't feel alone. My heart was racing inside of my chest, my body felt warm and light, and I knew what he was about to say.

After all of the things that had happened between us all of these years…And especially the most recent events like him giving me that beautiful ring or him staying the night with me on that couch or even bringing me here having fun and especially dancing with me on the dock…

When I added it all up in my head and finished his sentence for him, I just knew he was going to say the words I'd been waiting for. I knew he was going to say, "I love you, Winry!"

And that was when I'd finally be able to say, "Ed, I love you too!"  
The grand finale for the fireworks was beginning and I wanted to watch it with him, yet he was nowhere in sight.

I looked towards the crowd, waiting for him to come back. I was ready to see him again. I was ready to hear him tell me how he felt, to tell me the absolute truth.

Yet as I looked at the crowd, as people moved out of my line of vision and gave me a clearer view, I saw it. I saw what made my body go icy cold and made my heart stop beating.

There in the middle of the crowd, was Ed and Noah…and they were kissing. I didn't know what to say, what to do. All I knew was how I felt: heartbroken.

Tears began to run down my face and fall to the surface in front of my feet. As the fireworks ended and the area around me got dark again, I felt so very alone.

I dropped the bear Ed had won me without a second thought…and I ran. Because even though I was sad and angry and I wanted to take out my wrench and beat him and to finally tear down that tramp, Noah, I knew that my resolve would weaken and I'd cry harder if I faced him now.

So I ran, as fast as I could. Because right now, this was the last place that I wanted to be.


	10. Can Love Conquer All?

Best Friends and True Love

Can Love Conquer All?

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Well, this is the last chapter! I got bored and started reading this chapter last week and I totally forgot I wrote the story and I was really getting in to it! Thanks for the reviews. They made me happy and they really amused me. I really want to thank all of you for reading. I'm really happy you like my story! Oh, and if you get the time, then please read my other FMA fic, "Nothing But Trouble". So here's the last chapter! Can love conquer all?

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Winry had been right. What would happen to us after graduation? We were seniors and we were a month away from graduation. We both had to make some decisions and make them fast.

She told me that she didn't want to lose me, lose our friendship. I felt the exact same way. I never wanted to lose her. We'd had a great day, but the best part was when we were dancing on the dock as the fireworks went off.

I'd been thinking about it ever since we'd watched the sunset. I'd thought about what I should do. And when I finally reached a decision, I wondered if I was doing the right thing.

But as I looked into her eyes, I realized that there wasn't a doubt in my mind. She loved me, too, she had to. It should have been obvious to me for a long time now, yet it hadn't been, not until more recently.

I was just about to tell her that I loved her when Alphonse had called for me. Of course Winry had told me to go ahead, even though I knew full and well that it was the last thing she really wanted.

"Hey Alphonse," I said as I reached him. "What did you want?"

"Guess what brother," Al said as he put his arm around Rose. "Rose and I are getting married!"

"What the…!" I said in shock and disbelief.

Al and Rose broke out into laughter. I didn't see the humor in it. Al was only seventeen! And mom would have a fit, I just knew.

"Relax Ed, he's just joking," Rose said as she put her hand on my shoulder to placate me.

"Nope, we're not getting married, but Rose did say she'd be my girlfriend!" Al said.

I sighed. That was why he interrupted my big moment?

"Gosh Al. I've seen you reject and turn down so many girls…How did Rose reel you in? What's her secret?"

He shrugged. "Maybe it's the dress…Or maybe those other girls just weren't right for me?"

"Winry picked out this dress for me, I'll have you know," Rose said as she spun around in it.

"Ah, Winry had a part in this? That explains it all," I said as I looked back and could barely see her through the crowd. "She may not look like it, but she's a real schemer."

Al lowered his voice and came close to my ear. "Hey Ed, do you remember what we were talking about earlier when Winry passed by in the car?"

I nodded.

"Well, you should go for it."

With that said, he gave me a rather hard pat on the back and walked away with Rose attached to his arm.  
"Yeah, that was what I was trying to do when you interrupted me, Al!" I called after him.

"Sorry brother!" he said with a wave and without looking back.

They did make a nice couple, I had to admit, but I had business to take care of now.

What Al and I had been talking about earlier was me finally confessing my love to Winry. And then, like now, he had told me to go for it.

As I started to walk back to Winry, I felt somebody grab onto my arm and interrupt me. It was Noah.

"Hey Ed," she said with a smile as she looked up at me. "You look great!"

"Um…thanks, so do you," I said as I began to walk away.

"Ed, wait," she said as she kept a firm grip on my arm.

"I'm sorry Noah, but there's something I have to say to Winry right now…"

She leaned to the side and saw Winry standing there. I watched as her eyes widened in surprise before they narrowed slightly and then took on an innocent look.

"She sure looks nice tonight," she said in a low tone.

"She looks beautiful. And it'd be a shame to let all that pretty go to waste, so I have to go."

"Ed, wait," she said again. "There's something I have to tell you."

"Noah, I really have to go right now. I'll talk to you later, oka…." I started saying before she cut me off with a kiss.

I was so shocked that all I could do was stand there about five seconds before I pushed her away.

"Noah, what are you doing?!" I said as I took a step back.

"Edward, I love you! I always have. You love me, too, don't you? I know you do!"

I shook my head and took yet another step back.

"No Noah, I love Winry and I always have. I'm sorry, but I just don't feel that way about you. You're my friend, but that's as far as it goes…"

I didn't feel sorry as I walked away and left her there with her hand hanging low. I actually felt angry that she'd do that. She just threw herself at me without a moment's notice.

I didn't lead her on, did I? All I ever did was be nice to her, help her out in Chemistry, talk to her sometimes…

As I reached the dock, Winry was nowhere to be found. All I saw was the teddy bear I'd won for her. I was laying in the exact spot she had been standing at.

"Oh no!" I said as I realized what had happened.

Someway, somehow, Winry must've seen Noah kiss me and she must've thought…she must've thought…Ugh! This was horrible.

"Winry!" I called as I ran through the crowds, looking for any sign of her. I didn't see her anywhere.

I pulled my cell phone out of one of my pockets and dialed her number. There was no answer. Wait, did she even have her cell phone on her? Probably since she always carried her cell phone with her. But I had no idea where she was hiding it…probably the same place she'd been hiding that wrench I'd bought her…

I kept dialing her number and looking for her, but she was nowhere to be found.

I ran my fingers through my hair in a truly frustrated fashion. Where did she go? Where could she be? I had to explain what had happened to her, I just had to!

Noah had kissed me, not the other way around.

I had no idea where Al was at the moment so I called him on his cell phone.

"Brother?" he said as he answered. "What's wrong? Where are you?"

"I'm still at the party," I said as I leaned against a wall. "Look, you'll have to find yourself another way home Al, I'm sorry.

"Why? What happened?" he asked in his concerned tone.

I took a few moments to gather my thoughts and actually remember what had happened.

"Well…after you left me there, I was going back to Winry to tell her how I feel when Noah stopped me…"

"Noah?" Al said.

"Yes, Noah. Anyway, I tried to get away so that I could go talk to Winry, but Noah kept insisting that I stay there…Well, one thing led to another and she kissed me and told me she loved me! And I just…damn…!"

"Oh no…" Al said. I could imagine him slapping his hand to his forehead as he usually did in the "oh no" cases.

"Of course I told her I didn't love her back and I left her there, but when I went back to the dock, Winry was gone. I haven't been able to find her and she won't answer her cell…Anyway, I think she might've gone home and I have to go look for her."

Alphonse sighed.

"Do you want me to go with you?"

I shook my head even though he couldn't see it.

"No, you stay here with Rose. I'm sure you'll be able to find another ride home."

"I will," Al said confidently. "You just go ahead and find Winry."

He hung up and I stuck my phone back in my pocket.

After about another ten minutes of searching, I went back to my car and got back to Winry's house as fast as I could. The door was locked. I knocked, rang the doorbell, I even climbed up that tree and knocked on her window.

I got no answer, no response.

"Dammit!" I said as I jumped out of the tree and landed on my feet. "Where the hell could she be?!"

There was always the possibility that she had barricaded herself in her house and just wasn't answering me…I seriously considered breaking down the door when I noticed that her car was gone from the garage.

She hardly ever drove her car anywhere since she was usually in mine or walking somewhere with me. She must've gone somewhere…

But where? Where would she go at a time like this? I kicked the tree, hopped to my car since I'd hurt my foot, and drove off.

I went everywhere that I could think of, but there was no sign of Winry anywhere.

It had been such a clear night before, but now I saw dark clouds gathering and I knew that it was going to rain.

I had to find her before that happened, otherwise locating her would be even harder.

I stopped at a nearby gas station to fill the tank and get something to drink. As I stood there in front of the drinks, I decided to get me a bottle of orange juice.

Orange juice…Winry hated orange juice unless it was poured over some ice. She refused to drink it any other way. I smiled weakly, though it was also very bitter.

I drank all of the orange juice quickly without stopping to breathe. I didn't care if I chocked on it at the moment, anyway.

I remembered yet again the very first time I laid my eyes on Winry Rockbell as she pulled back her curtains and looked at me with a shocked expression.

That face. From there on, it was the beginning and the and to me and even everything in between. We'd become inseparable, me, her, and Al.

We always spent time together in school and out. And we had a blast during summer vacation. We'd been born in Resembool, Al and I. But we'd moved shortly after Al was born.

When we got back, I didn't recognize a thing. All I knew was that this was the place my life began. It didn't really feel like home to me. But Winry changed that.

I had her to thank for so many things. Like Spanish class…There were times when I was just having a hard time in life and she was right there, wanting to hear my problems and help me out.

I always did the best that I could to return the favor. Whenever she needed me, I tried to be there for her the best that I could.

And I just knew that right now, she needed me. I knew that she needed me even if she didn't want to need me.

I had to find her and I had to make her understand that she misunderstood what she saw, that I didn't love Noah. I needed her to know that I loved her.

The wind began to pick up slightly and I knew that the storm would come soon. Where could she be? I'd called Winry's cell, her house, her friends, even her grandmother. Nobody had seen or heard from her.

Where was she hiding? Where could she possibly be that she was sure that people wouldn't find her?

That was it! I knew where she was, where she had to be! She didn't want people to find her and there was one place that I knew about that was perfect for just that.

I hurried back to my car and sped off in that direction.

I sat there in the cave, leaning my head against the cool rock. Not long before, I'd leaned my head on something much softer and much more warm. Ed's shoulder, though, made this rock seem very desirable at the moment, though.

Seeing Ed and Noah kissing was like a slap to the face, a stab to the heart. I dropped the bear and ran as fast as I could. All I wanted to do was to get away from that place, to escape.

I ran blindly through the crowd. What I hadn't expected was to bump into somebody and almost fall. But a pair of arms caught me and prevented my fall.

I looked up at the face of Russell Tringham. Russell had always been my friend, hadn't he? I could trust him, right? Even if I couldn't trust him, I didn't give it a second thought as I threw my arms around him and began to cry into his chest.

He was in shock for a couple of seconds before he wrapped his arms around me, trying to soothe me the best he could.

I remembered Ed trying to calm me down many times before the same way, and it made me cry harder. When I calmed down a bit, he finally asked me what was wrong.

I merely shook my head and asked him if he would take me home.

The ride to my house was silent. I could tell that he had questions that he wanted to ask, that he wanted answers, too, but he didn't say anything.

I sat there quietly, looking out of the window. As the blurred shadows of buildings went by, I did my best not to think about Edward, not to think about what I'd seen. But I couldn't help it, couldn't stop it. But I really did try not to get so upset again.

When the car came to a stop in front of my house, I turned to Russell and thanked him.

"Look," he said as he put his hand on top of mine. "I know that something's wrong, that something happened…Ed did something to upset you, didn't he?"

I shook my head.

"No…it's nothing, really…" I trailed off.

I made me look him in the eye.

"Winry," he said softly. "You're my friend. You've been my friend even since before Ed came along. And even though I really like you, I always knew you liked him more. But if he did something to hurt you…I'd gladly do the same to him if you wanted because…somebody like you deserves to be treated better."

I shook my head again and lowered my chin before thanking him again and leaving the car.

I turned and waved at him before I opened the front door. I couldn't stay here, not right now. I mean, what if Ed tried to come after me. Come after me? Ha! Why would he come after me? After all, he looked pretty happy smooching with Noah, right?

But then again, my cell phone had rang a bunch of times on the way home…

Still, even if he didn't care enough to come after me, I knew that I couldn't lock myself up in my house. I ran up the stairs two at a time and reached my bedroom. I needed to change. I just threw on the first clothes I pulled out of my drawers.

After that, I grabbed my keys and hurried to the garage. I never really drove my car unless I really needed it, if the situation really called for it. This was one of those times.

I drove around for a few minute, not really knowing where to go. I didn't want to be around anybody right now. I wanted to go somewhere that people couldn't find me.

And I knew that there was one place where people didn't go, where I could be alone.

And here I was, sitting in that cave at the lake. The boat was sitting only a few feet from me now. I'd gotten tired of hearing my phone ring, so I'd turned it off and left it in my car.

The only person who could find me here was Edward, but he didn't care enough to actually do that, right?

I sighed as I felt the tears arise yet again. I stood up and left the cave, deciding that it was time to go some place else, maybe even go home. I couldn't stay there all night. I had to leave.

As I was walking back to my car, that was when it happened. It began to rain. I was soaked within seconds.

"Oh, great!" I said as I stomped up and down. "Why me dang it! Why me? What else could possibly happen now?!"

And that was when I saw Ed drive up in his car.

I let out a frustrated growl.

"Winry!" he said as he hurried out of his car. "Winry, there you are. I've been looking for you!"

"Why?!" I said as I slapped him, something I should've done the second I saw that kiss instead of running away. "So you can tell me how much you love Noah? Yeah, I think I'll pass on that.

I began to walk away, but he caught my arm. I pulled out my wrench and I was going to whack him a good one, but he interrupted me.

"No Winry!" he said as he rubbed his cheek. "I don't love Noah. I was trying to get back to you, but she kept talking and talking and then she just kissed me!"

"And I'm supposed to believe that?!" I said as I tried to get him to release my arm.

"It's the truth Winry! She…I think she's known all along…how I really feel about you…And I think she was jealous of you…And I think she got desperate…"

"That tramp!" I said as I glared up at the rain. "I should've messed her up when I had to chance, the little hussy…!"

I sighed. The look in his eyes the moment I dared to look at them…I could tell he was telling me the truth. Besides, his eyebrow usually twitched when he lied. How could I doubt him in the first place? I wouldn't put something like that past Noah. And I think she wanted me to see the kiss, too.

At that moment I realized that she'd been trying to tear us apart.

"Winry," he continued. "I…before Al interrupted us, there was something I was trying to tell you, something important. It's something that I think you really need to hear…"

I didn't say anything, just waiting for him to speak, to hear what he had to say.

"Winry…you…you're my best friend. I don't know what I'd do without you and I don't ever want to lose you. I don't know when it happened, but one day I realized that I'd fallen in love with you. And even if you don't feel the same way about me…I want you to know that I do love you."

I stood there for seconds, not really knowing what to say. Did he really love me? Could he really? I loved him. I'd always loved Ed, right? And here he was standing there telling me that he felt the same way.

I began to cry as I threw myself into his arms and kissed him gently, yet passionately, my tears lost as they mixed with the rain that ran down my cheeks. Kissing him was everything I'd ever dreamed about and more. It felt so right, so perfect, so…complete. And yet something was still missing.

I didn't break the kiss as I yanked on his ponytail and pulled the rubber band lose, letting his wet hair down.

"What are you…?"

I smiled up at him and kissed his cheek. "Now…now everything's perfect," I said as I brought my face close, my lips lingering so close to his. "And you look hot."

As we stood there, kissing in the rain, I knew that we'd always be best friends. But better than that, I knew that he loved me, too, and that as long as he was right by my side, as long as I knew I could be held in his arms, that everything would be just fine.

I laughed on the inside as I thought about one fact. I thought about the fact that we'd started off being best friends, but we ended up with true love.

The end.


End file.
